Crews repaired a power outage at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport that forced the cancellation or diversion of some flights, authorities said Saturday.
Repairs were carried out overnight and power has been fully restored to Terminal 1, which handles some of the airport’s international flights, the airport’s operator, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said.
The blackout occurred on Thursday when a fault in the electrical panel caused a small fire, authorities said. Dozens of flights were canceled and some were diverted to other airports. An Air New Zealand flight was forced to turn back to Auckland after having covered two-thirds of the journey across the Pacific Ocean, causing a 16-hour journey to end where it began.
Although power was fully restored at Terminal 1, flight activity was limited on Saturday morning, the Port Authority said. Terminal 1 was open for 26 of the 64 arrivals and departures originally scheduled for Saturday, while 18 flights will be assigned to other terminals and 10 have been cancelled, authorities said.
“The concessions will operate with reduced menu options as activity resumes in Terminal 1 and the private terminal operator will have additional customer service staff to assist passengers,” the Port Authority explained in a statement.
“Customers are encouraged to continue to check with their airlines for up-to-date information on their flights. All other terminals at JFK are operating normally,” he added.
The authorities detailed that the security and protection systems were fully operational and that other construction systems were being tested and put back into operation.
