Irma: British Airways updates plans for re-starting flights after hurricane passes

BA has aircraft waiting in Bermuda and the Caribbean to operate rescue flights

No-fly zone: BA departures from Miami to London on 11 September

British Airways has updated its plans for re-starting operations to Florida and the Caribbean after Hurricane Irma.

The airline says the storm has “caused severe damage to parts of the Caribbean and Florida”.

All BA flights to or from the four Florida airports it serves — Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Orlando — are cancelled on Monday 11 September.

The airline is allowing any passengers booked to fly to or from any of those airports up to and including Sunday 17 September to reschedule to the same destination as originally booked up to and including 14 October — or use the value of their ticket towards an alternative BA destination

The airline has flown a Boeing 777 to Bermuda, where it is currently waiting on the ground.

“As soon as it is safe to do so, we will be positioning it in to Florida, to help bring as many customers home as possible,” says BA.

“We also have aircraft ready in the Caribbean when airports re-open, to help get customers to airports with connecting flights to London."

From Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos, the airline is “making arrangements to have relief aircraft ready to fly customers from Providenciales back to London as soon as it is safe to do so”.

Flights from Heathrow to Nassau and Grand Cayman, which had been disrupted, will be back to normal from Monday onwards. Services to and from Antigua and Punta Cana are operating as normal.

But anyone booked to fly with the airline to/from Antigua, Grand Cayman, Nassau, St Kitts, Punta Cana, Tobago or Providenciales before 14 September can can choose to travel to an alternative Caribbean destination or delay the flight to another date before the end of September.

It is also allowing passengers booked to or from Atlanta on Monday or Tuesday to reschedule to Wednesday or Thursday.

Virgin Atlantic has a wider "travel waiver", allowing anyone booked to Florida, Georgia, Havana, the Bahamas or Antigua up to Sunday 17 September. They can switch dates or destinations so long as they complete their journey on or before 14 October.