With an ultra-powerful winter snowstorm forecast over the weekend in the central and eastern United States, Korean carriers operating to and from U.S. airports have canceled more than 10 flights so far.
According to the airline industry on the 24th, as of 2:30 p.m. (12:30 a.m. Eastern time) that day, Korean Air Lines, Asiana Airlines, and Air Premia, which operate U.S.-bound flights from Incheon International Airport, canceled a total of 18 flights due to the winter storm.
Korean Air Lines canceled 14 U.S.-route flights scheduled through the 26th.
At 10:20 a.m. (local time) that day, two flights—KE031, which was to depart from Incheon Airport for Dallas, Texas, and the return flight KE032—were canceled.
On the 25th, 11 flights were canceled, including two round trips between Incheon and Atlanta (KE035·036), Incheon–Washington (KE093·094), Incheon–New York (KE081·082·085), Incheon–Boston (KE091·092), and Incheon–Dallas (KE031·032); on the 26th, the New York–Incheon flight (KE086) was canceled.
Asiana Airlines canceled two flights: the Incheon–New York flight (OZ222) at 9 a.m. on the 25th and the New York–Incheon flight (OZ221) at 1 a.m. on the 26th.
Air Premia canceled two flights: the Incheon–New York (Newark) flight (YP131) at 9:55 p.m. on the 25th and the New York–Incheon return flight (YP132) on the 26th. Depending on weather conditions in the central and eastern United States, where a snowstorm is forecast, additional cancellations could be ordered around the 27th.
Each airline said it is notifying passengers scheduled to board as soon as cancellations are decided and, if passengers wish, is offering itinerary changes or refunds without fees or penalties. However, because the cancellations were pre-announced due to a natural disaster, there is no separate compensation.
Global airlines are canceling large numbers of scheduled flights on U.S. routes due to the winter storm.
According to flight-tracking site FlightAware, a total of 3,148 U.S. domestic and international flights scheduled to operate that day were canceled. For the 25th, 5,068 flights have been canceled.