US airport chaos as more than 2700 flights cancelled

Air travel continues to be severely disrupted in the United States due to bad weather and the impact of the Omicron variant.

Passengers wait to check in for their flight at Ronald Reagan International Airport in Washington, DC. Picture: Roberto Schmidt/AFP

Air travel continued to be severely disrupted in the United States on Saturday, with bad weather in parts of the country adding to the impact of a massive spike in Covid-19 infections fuelled by the Omicron variant.

The United States had 2723 cancelled flights, more than half of the 4698 cancelled worldwide, around 11.00pm (0400 GMT Sunday), according to tracking website FlightAware.

In addition, 5993 domestic flights were delayed on Saturday, out of a total of 11,043 worldwide for the day.

The worst affected US airline was SkyWest, which had to cancel 23 per cent of its flight schedule, according to the site.

Travellers make their way through Miami International Airport. Picture: Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP

In the United States, airports in Chicago were particularly hard-hit because of bad weather, with a snowstorm expected in the area on Saturday afternoon and into the night.

The global air travel industry is still reeling from the highly contagious Omicron variant.

Many pilots, flight attendants and other staff are absent from work after contracting Covid-19, or because they are quarantining after coming in contact with someone who has the infection.

Some 7500 flights were cancelled by airlines worldwide over the Christmas weekend.