Travellers and locals in the southern New Jersey, Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania are expected to feel the brunt of the storm, aka Frankenstorm, today and tomorrow. Image: AccuWeather.com

More than 7,000 flights have been cancelled over Sunday, Monday and Tuesday as the East Coast USA braces for the “catastrophic impacts” of Hurricane Sandy.

Although travellers and locals in the southern New Jersey, Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania are expected to feel the brunt of Hurricane Sandy, aka Frankenstorm, today and tomorrow, more than 375,000 New Yorkers have already been evacuated, while 16 million others living on the East Coast have been told to be prepared. 

According to an AccuWeather.com update, the storm is travelling with storm-force winds extending 450 miles away from its centre and is expected to build up more than eight inches of rain.

Airports from Washington DC up to Boston remain open for the moment, however, they are reportedly in the process of implementing contingency plans while airlines announced the cancellation of 1,200 yesterday, 5,500 on Monday and an addition 640 on Tuesday, Los Angeles Times reported.

Airlines affected include:

United Airlines

The airline has cancelled selected flights and limited operations to and from mid-Atlantic and northeast airports today and tomorrow.

United has advised it will waive change fees for passengers booked to fly to or from impacted cities from 28October through 31 October.

Impacted airports include its hub Newark Liberty International Airport as well as John F Kennedy and LaGuardia, Dulles International Airport and Reagan Washington National.

Other destinations and airports also impacted include; Albany, N.Y, Allentown, Pa, Baltimore, Md, Boston, Mass, Buffalo, N.Y, Burlington, Vt, Charleston, S.C, Charleston, W.V, Erie, Pa, Harrisburg, Pa, Hartford, Conn, Manchester, N.H, Norfolk, Va, Philadelphia, Pa,  Pittsburgh, Pa, Portland, Maine, Providence, R.I, Raleigh-Durham, N.C, Richmond, Va, Roanoke, VA, Rochester, N.Y, Syracuse, N.Y, White Plains, N.Y and Wilkes Barre-Scranton, Pa. 

US Airways

The carrier has advised “relaxed” changes to its fee policies, agreeing to waive the fee for passengers who trips are affected. 

The “relaxed policy” applies to passengers booked to travel between 28 October and 31 October may change to travel from 1 November to 7 November.

Passengers are required to rebook to the same destination and may be asked charged a fee if they change the origin and destination, travel outside the dates provided or if there is a different in fare.

US Airways flight affected include trips to: Hartford/Springfield, CT, New Haven, CT, Washington, DC (Dulles), Washington, DC (Reagan National), Portland, ME, Baltimore, MD, Salisbury, MD ; Boston, MA ; Manchester, NH, Newark, NJ, Albany, NY, Binghamton, NY, Buffalo, NY, Elmira, NY, Islip, NY, Ithaca, NY, New York, NY (Laguardia) ; New York, NY (JFK), Newburgh, NY, Rochester, NY, Syracuse, NY, White Plains, NY, Greenville, NC, Jacksonville, NC, New Bern, NC, Raleigh/Durham, NC, Allentown, PA, Erie, PA, Harrisburg, PA, Philadelphia, PA, Pittsburgh, PA, Scranton, PA ; State College, PA, Williamsport, PA, Providence, RI, Burlington, VT, Charlottesville, VA, Lynchburg, VA, Newport News, VA ; Norfolk, VA,; Richmond, VA, Roanoke, VA, Charleston, WV, Huntington, WV.

Delta Airlines

Delta has advised passengers are entitled to a refund without fee if their flight is cancelled or significantly delayed and they are scheduled to fly to, from, or through the affected cities between 28 October to 31 October and ticket must be reissued before 4 November to fly no later than 4 November.

Impacted flights include those flying to and from: District of Columbia, DC, Delware, DE, Maryland, MD, North Carolina, NC, New Jersey, NJ, New York, NY, South Carolina, SC, Virginia, VA, Massachusetts, MA, West Virginia, WV, Pennsylvania, PA, Conneticut, CT, Vermont, VT, New Hampshire, NH, Rhode Island, RI and Maine, ME.   

American Airlines

The US airline has directed impacted passengers with tickets issued no later than 26 October this year to change flights departing 28 October to 31 October. 

Affected destinations include: Baltimore, MD, Boston, MA, Buffalo, NY, Charleston, WV, Charlottesville, VA, Greensboro / Highpoint, NC, Harrisburg, PA, Hartford, CT, New York Kennedy, NY, New York LaGuardia, NY, Newark, NJ, Norfolk, VA, Philadelphia, PA, Pittsburg, PA, Raleigh / Durham, NC, Richmond, VA, Rochester, NY, Syracuse, NY, Washington Dulles, VA, Washington Reagan National, DC, Watertown, NY and Westchester County / White Plains, NY.

Hawaiian Airlines

At the request of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, the airline has cancelled scheduled service between Honolulu and New York City for 29 October.

Hawaiian said it expects to resume regular scheduled services on Tuesday afternoon, weather permitting and will add an additional roundtrip to New York.

British Airways

The UK carrier has cancelled all flights to and from the East Coast USA including New York, Baltimore, Washington, Boston and Philadelphia.

The airline is offering the option to rebook or receive a refund to those customers whose flights are cancelled.  

New York’s transit system

The city’s popular subway system will also be suspended, with New York governor Andrew Cuorno advising the emergency suspension running from Sunday through to late Wednesday, The Guardian reported.

The governor also advised that decisions on New York’s bridges and tunnels to and from Manhattan would be made individually.