Air travellers stranded in the Northeast are a little closer to getting home

Two of New York City's three major airports are open. Flights are slowly resuming at John F. Kennedy International and Newark Liberty International. LaGuardia is still closed.

Airlines say they are beginning limited service in New York after Hurricane Sandy shut down air travel in the Northeast earlier this week.

Travellers hoping to fly out of New York on Wednesday are being told to check with their airline before heading to the airport.

Delta Air Lines Inc says it hopes to resume flying at LaGuardia on Thursday. However, airport authorities say they don't know yet when LaGuardia will reopen.

19,000 cancellations

Airports in Washington and Philadelphia reopened on Tuesday.

FlightStats said the storm had caused more than 19,000 cancellations since it began, including 2,820 cancellations in North America on Wednesday.

Delta was resuming some flights at JFK on Wednesday. But other airlines, including American and Southwest, said they won't resume New York flights until today, Thursday.

LaGuardia was another story. Several airlines said they hoped to resume flying there on Thursday. But airport authorities said they don't know yet when LaGuardia will reopen.

"There are a lot of contingencies before we can reopen at LaGuardia," Southwest spokesman Paul Flaningan said. "It's still barricaded at the front entrance, which makes drop-offs from taxis and buses difficult."

Airlines continued to waive fees to change tickets for flights to New York airports. Delta and United said that anyone who planned to fly there through Saturday could change their ticket. However, the rebooked travel still had to begin by Nocember 9, giving travellers a relatively narrow window to make their trip.

American's waiver was broader, covering New York tickets through November 7, and allowing rebooked travel through December 20.

- AP