Emirates cancels Florida flights due to Hurricane Irma

Emirates has been forced to cancel several flights to and from Fort Lauderdale and Orlando as Hurricane Irma sets its sights on Florida.

Flights EK213 from Dubai to Fort Lauderdale and EK214 from Fort Lauderdale to Dubai on September 8, 9 and 10 were cancelled, as were flights EK219 from Dubai to Orlando and EK220 from Orlando to Dubai on September 9, 10 and 11.

“We are monitoring the situation closely, and aim to give customers as much notice as possible if there are any further changes to our operations,” the airline said in a statement.

Affected passengers were advised to contact their travel agents or Emirates call centres for ticket rebooking and cancellation, or could check the status of their flight on the website.

Hurricane Irma is expected to rip through Florida’s southern archipelago on Sunday morning as a Category 4 storm, the second-highest designation on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Wind gusts near hurricane force began to batter the Florida Keys late on Saturday, the US National Hurricane Centre said.

The storm has already left at least 22 dead and thousands homeless in the Caribbean.

Last week, Emirates cancelled flights to and from Houston due to Hurricane Harvey, which caused catastrophic flooding across Texas and killed at least 70.

Read: Emirates cancels Houston flights due to heavy floods