Tens of
thousands of airline passengers have been hit by the grounding of thousands of
flights as a surge in Covid cases cause’s staff shortages.
More than
7,500 flights have now been canceled since Friday and over the Christmas
weekend, according to the Flight Aware data tracking website.
Chinese and WE
airlines appear to be the hardest hit, with further delays and cancellations
announced for Monday.
Companies
say the cancellations are due to airline crews testing positive.
Staffs that
have not tested positive but have been in contact with those infected are then
being forced to self-isolate.
Recorded
Covid cases are rising sharply around the world, largely driven by the Omicron
variant many business listings.
Despite early findings that
Omicron is milder than other coronavirus variants,
Scientists are
concerned by the sheer number of infections being recorded.
·
How
can I tell I have Omicron?
·
Covid
map: Where are cases the highest?
·
Omicron
wave appears milder, but concern remains
On Sunday,
more than 2,400 flights were canceled - over 800 of which were to or from US
airports, according to Flight Aware.
The
worst-hit US companies are Delta, United, and JetBlue.
United
warned earlier that a spike in Omicron cases had "had a direct impact on
our flight crews and the people who run our operation", adding that it was
contacting impacted passengers in advance of them coming to the airport business listings.
Omicron now
is the dominant strain in the US.
However, the
most affected single airline appears to be China Eastern with more than 390
scrapped flights on Sunday.
The airport
in the northern Chinese city of Xi'an has reported more than 120 flight
cancellations.
More than 13
million people in Xi'an have been recently ordered to stay at home as
authorities attempt to tackle a Covid outbreak there.
Heathrow
Airport in London has seen more than 60 flights canceled on Sunday.
Nearly 5.4
million people have died with coronavirus worldwide, according to America's
Johns Hopkins University. There have been more than 279 million confirmed cases
free business listings.
More on this
story
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Booster
at least 80% effective against severe Omicron
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Omicron:
Good news, bad news, and what it all means
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European
nations reinstate Covid restrictions
·
Biden
buys 500m test kits to tackle Omicron surge
·
WHO
chief: An event canceled is better than a life canceled
·
WHO:
‘Omicron is a variant of concern, not panic’
·
How
can I tell I have Omicron?
·
Do
vaccines work against Omicron?
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