Flights Canceled, Airports Close, Cruises Divert as Hurricane Milton Approaches Florida

Orlando, Tampa, and Southwest Florida airports have all closed.

By Alison Fox Alison Fox

Alison Fox is a Travel + Leisure contributor. She has also written for Parents.com, The Wall Street Journal, and amNewYork. When she’s not in New York City, she can be found at the beach or on the slopes. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines Published on October 9, 2024

Close A thunderstorm can be seen moving over Tampa in the distance from St. Petersburg, Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton’s expected landfall in the middle of this week. Photo:

Getty Images

As Hurricane Milton hurdles its way towards Florida on Wednesday as a Category 4 storm, flights have been canceled, airlines and cruises have diverted, and theme parks have shuttered.

Milton, which is currently moving across the eastern Gulf of Mexico, was expected to make landfall as an “extremely dangerous major hurricane” late Wednesday or early Thursday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm featured maximum sustained winds near 155 mph with hurricane-force winds extending up to 30 miles from the center, and threatened a “dangerous storm surge.” 

As a result, more than 1,700 flights had already been canceled within, into, or out of the United States early Wednesday morning, according to flight tracker FlightAware. Several major airports in Florida planned to close ahead of the hurricane, including Orlando International Airport (MCO), which announced it would cease operations at 8 a.m. on Wednesday and open “once a damage assessment has been conducted of all airport facilities and immediate safety issues addressed.” More than 800 flights were canceled in and out of the airport on Wednesday.

Similarly, Tampa International Airport (TPA) suspended all commercial and cargo operations on Tuesday, canceling more than 380 incoming and outgoing flights on Wednesday. This was the second time in as many weeks Tampa’s airport had to close following Hurricane Helene, which made landfall as a devastating Category 4 storm in Florida late last month. 

Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) also suspended operations on Wednesday and said it planned to remain closed on Thursday.

Several airlines issued flight waivers ahead of Milton, including Delta Air Lines,  United Airlines, American Airlines, and more. For its part, United also told Travel + Leisure it added 18 extra flights to Florida and employed larger aircraft on Monday and Tuesday as well as capped Florida fares. However, United said its flights out of Tampa, Orlando, Fort Myers, and Sarasota were all full for Wednesday and Thursday.

“We will continue to adjust our schedule to account for the hurricane and airport closures,” the airline said in a statement shared with T+L. 

Cruises out of Florida were also affected with several cruise ports forced to cease vessel traffic, including the Port of Tampa Bay, the Port of Jacksonville, and Port Canaveral. As a result, cruise lines were forced to divert or cancel sailings, including Carnival Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, and Margaritaville at Sea.  

And when it came to hotels and home rentals, Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo told T+L the companies issued travel waivers for travelers “with reservations impacted by Hurricane Milton.”

On the ground in Florida, major theme parks closed their gates, like Walt Disney World, which planned to close Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, and close the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Disney Springs an hour later.

“It is likely the theme parks will remain closed on Thursday, October 10,” Disney wrote in its advisory, adding, “Please know these adjustments have been made in order to leave plenty of time for our Guests and Cast Members to return to their Resort hotels or homes safely hours before higher winds are expected to reach Central Florida.”

Universal Orlando Resort also planned to close Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and Universal CityWalk after 2 p.m. on Wednesday and remain closed on Thursday.