Canada wildfires delay flights in and out of New York City

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The ongoing wildfires in Canada are affecting air travel in and out of the New York City area.

Images out of New York show skyscrapers emersed in an orange-red haze.

The smoke caused New York’s LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International Airport to halt flights Wednesday.

Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport says there have been no impacts on operations.

Delta Airlines sent Atlanta News First the following statement:

Travelers flying back to Atlanta from New York Wednesday were surprised at how quickly conditions changed.

“When we were leaving, it was starting to get bad you could see the haze coming in we were going from Times Square to LaGuardia,” said John Doran.

The FAA tweeted Wednesday it had slowed traffic to and from New York area airports due to the reduced visibility.

The FAA is now slowing traffic from the East Coast and Midwest bound for Philadelphia International Airport due to reduced visibility from wildfire smoke. #AirQualityAlert
— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) June 7, 2023

The agency says it continues to monitor the situation.

Travelers we spoke to were grateful they made it out just in time.

“I’m glad we are here we finally got back to Atlanta,” Hua Rong.

Copyright 2023 WANF. All rights reserved.