Flights cancelled at Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Ontario as catastrophic hurricane targets U.S.

Numerous flights between Pearson Airport in Mississauga and several Florida destinations have been cancelled in the coming days as a historically strong hurricane barrels toward the U.S. state’s Gulf Coast.

Hurricane Milton, which dipped in intensity overnight from a Category 5 storm to one with still-significant Category 4 strength, threatens millions of people in its path and is expected to make landfall Wednesday night near Sarasota, south of Tampa, U.S. authorities say.

In advance of the monstrous storm, international airports in Tampa, Orlando and St. Pete-Clearwater have shut down all operations and will only reopen “when it’s safe to do so,” officials said.

Meanwhile, Canadian carriers Flair Airlines and Porter Airlines said earlier today they’ve cancelled flights Wednesday and Thursday, with additional cancellations and/or delays possible on Friday as well.

Officials at both airlines, and Pearson Airport, urge all travellers to check with the airport or their airline for information on their scheduled flights the remainder of this week and into the weekend.

Officials at Pearson say they’re regularly monitoring the storm and actions being taken by airports in Florida and will update travellers on this side of the border as needed.

“Some Canadian airlines have released travel advisories and cancelled flights for today and tomorrow,” Pearson officials said in a post to social media on Wednesday. “If your plans include travelling to Florida this week, we recommend you check your flight status with your airline. Multiple airports in Florida remain closed.”

In a media advisory on Wednesday, Flair officials said “due to Hurricane Milton, we’ve had to cancel all Flair Airlines flights between Fort Lauderdale and Toronto scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 10. While flights on Friday, Oct. 11 may be delayed, we’ll keep you updated with final details as soon as possible.”

They added travellers whose flights are affected will receive an email with necessary information.

“We’re also working on recovery flights for Saturday, depending on the storm’s path, and we’ll provide more information soon.”

Porter Airlines said in a travel alert all of its flights to Florida scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday have been cancelled.

“Passengers will be automatically rebooked on flights later in the week,” Porter officials added, cautioning “there may be further cancellations later in the week as the storm makes landfall.”

Pearson officials said late Tuesday that flights to Cancun, Mexico were impacted as well as the major hurricane passed to the north of that area over the record-warm Gulf of Mexico.

For more information, Pearson Airport departures can be found here.

Milton is the second powerful hurricane in as many weeks to impact Florida and other southern states, in addition to flights to and from Pearson.

In late September, Hurricane Helene slammed into the Big Bend area of Florida’s northwest coast, bringing record storm surge levels and devastating much of the area.

Retaining its hurricane-force winds and large amounts of rainfall as it moved inland, Helene also destroyed many towns in several other U.S. states, killing several hundred people.

Helene is considered the most catastrophic hurricane to hit the U.S. since Katrina in 2005.