Airlines cancel another 5,750 flights due to Superstorm Sandy as 50,000 stranded fliers wait it out at airports around the world



Total number of flights cancelled over the last three days sits at 15,000

Some 50,000 stranded passengers are now waiting out the storm across the world, in travel hubs including London, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong

Storm has forced closure of JFK and LaGuardia airports in New York and Newark in New Jersey 'until further notice'

Amtrak has cancelled all services in the north-east today



Sandy is now rated as a 'post-tropical' superstorm



Airlines have today cancelled a further 5,753 flights with more cancellations expected as Superstorm Sandy continues to pummel the north-eastern U.S.

The massive storm has brought a near halt to air travel for a third day in a key region for both domestic and international flights.

The total number of flights cancelled over the last three days now sits at just under 15,000.

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Emergency: U.S. Airways baggage terminals are covered in plastic as Superstorm Sandy begins to bear down on Philadelphia International Airport yesterday. Airlines have today cancelled a further 5,753 flights

Stranded: Italian tourists Patrizio D'Emido and Joelle Carota sit in the closed Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC between flights New York City: Sea water floods the Ground Zero construction site in Lower Manhattan last night

F light-tracking service FlightAware reported cancellations by major carriers including American Airlines, United and Delta into and out of three area airports in New York, the nation's busiest airspace.

Some 50,000 stranded passengers are now waiting out the storm across the world, in travel hubs including London, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong.



So far, there have been 14,723 flight cancellations as a direct result of the storm. This breaks down as 1,300 cancelled on Sunday; at least 7,670 yesterday; and 5,753 today.

Sandy, now rated as a 'post-tropical' superstorm, has forced the closure of JFK and LaGuardia airports in New York and Newark in New Jersey 'until further notice'.

Domestic and international flights have also been cancelled at other major airports in the north-east.



Both Philadelphia International Airport and Baltimore Washington International Airport have warned passengers that most flights will likely be cancelled today.



Amtrak has cancelled all services in the north-east today due to high winds and heavy rain.



Changed plans: Nearly 15,000 flights have been cancelled over the last three days Path: A Nasa satellite image taken at 3.55 EST (7.55 GMT) showing Sandy's progress over the East Coast

Cancellations: All flights out of New York's three airports, including JFK (pictured), have been grounded

The railroad said passenger service between Boston and Raleigh, North Carolina, and between the East Coast and Chicago, New Orleans and Florida will be suspended for a second day in a row.



Cancellations include Acela Express, Northeast Regional, Keystone and Shuttle service, among other trains.



Passengers were urged to follow developments on Amtrak.com and Facebook and Twitter sites. No decision has yet been made on when service will be resumed.



Amtrak said passengers who have paid but who didn't travel because of the service disruption can receive a refund or a voucher for future travel.

Businessman Alan Shrem was trying to return home to Boca Raton, Florida, yesterday morning, but his Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to New York's Kennedy airport was cancelled.



He was told he could be stuck in Hong Kong for nearly a week because the next available seat was on November 4. He was put on a waiting list for seats that could become available earlier.



'They just say "Yeah, it's a pretty big waiting list,"' said Mr Shrem, throwing up his hands.

Meanwhile, he will have to pay $400 a night to stay at a nearby hotel. The airline will not pay for accommodation for stranded passengers if delays are weather related.

Stranded: Tens of thousands of passengers, including these tired travellers at JFK, face further delays today

Delays: Delta Airlines passengers study a departure screen at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, after dozens of flights were canceled last night

Deserted: Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in London lies empty this morning as all flights to the U.S. east coast were cancelled

Air travel in the north-east began experiencing problems on Sunday night, when passengers were reporting delays of hours at airline call centers.

Eileen Merberg, 50, was booked on a United flight from her home in Rochester, New York, to New Orleans, connecting at Washington D.C.'s Dulles airport.



She received an email saying the Washington flight was cancelled. United rebooked her first on a flight through Newark and, when that flight was also canceled, on another flight through Chicago.



By that point, she had told the higher education conference that she was scheduled to speak at that she would not be coming. She tried to cancel her flight over the phone but waiting times were so long she could not get through.

Airlines are pointing to last year's Hurricane Irene as a precedent of likely action they will take.

During a four-day period in August 2011, as Irene approached the Eastern Seaboard, 14,000 flights were halted as the hurricane traveled over major hubs such as Philadelphia, Newark and JFK airports.

Every major airline in the U.S. has at least one hub or 'center city' and some, such as United (Newark and Washington Dulles) and US Airways (Philadelphia and Washington National), have two.



Even a slight disruption to one of these airports would affect thousands of flights and tens of thousands of passengers.



If the flight cancellations continue, it could lead to havoc which would create gridlock in the U.S. aviation system and create a backlog of stranded passengers.

However, Sandy is expected to have remained in the area for at least 48 hours and disruption to flights is expected to be far greater than that experienced during Irene.