Solar eclipse flights sweep through small airports

Such disruptions are routinely caused by bad weather and heavy traffic in major city centres, but the scenic high demand of the phenomenon disrupted some smaller airports on Monday. The best views of the solar eclipse in the United States extend from Texas through Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio to northwestern New York and Maine, according to Reuters. NASA.

A ground stop stops arrivals at the airport, giving the facility time to catch up and avoid congested aircraft parking on the ground.

“We had to close the runway to park the planes,” Alyssa Connell, chief operating officer at Southern Illinois Airport in Murphysboro, Illinois, told CNBC. The airport, which has three runways, has booked eclipse flights and on Friday reached its capacity limit of 230 small helicopters and about 45 larger aircraft with larger turboprop engines. “This is the largest number of aircraft we have ever seen.”

Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport in Vermont is scheduled to receive between 100 and 130 general aviation aircraft on Monday, said Dave Carman, deputy director of flight operations. It also expects some scheduled commercial passenger aircraft traffic.

“It's the most we've seen in one day,” Carman said. “It's going to be hectic to get out,” he said.

The eclipse was called a major event in the FAA's morning planning call at its command center in Warrenton, Virginia, according to an agency spokeswoman. Other common obstacles include presidential travel, severe weather, or major sporting and entertainment events.

The Federal Aviation Administration had previously done so Pilots beware About possible turbulence and heavy traffic at a group of airports located on or near the eclipse path.

Delta Air Lines sold special eclipse flights in which passengers could view it from the sky, one from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Detroit and another from Austin, Texas, to Detroit. Other airlines have called in flights that can provide views of the eclipse along the “path of totality.” United Airlines said bookings to San Antonio more than doubled during the eclipse period compared to the same dates last year and were up in Cleveland and Little Rock, Arkansas.

The eclipse is expected to be a boon for hotels, home rentals and other businesses with the influx of tourists.