By David Shepardson
May 22 (Reuters) – The closure of one of the runways at New York’s LaGuardia airport, which was caused by a sinkhole on Wednesday, is expected to continue until early Saturday, snarling flights for the busy Memorial Day travel period, the airport authority said.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages New York City area airports, said inspections using ground-penetrating radar on Thursday identified potential areas of concern on the runway that were repaired, and engineering crews are conducting additional inspections on Friday. Crews expect to complete surveys and any repairs by 6 a.m. on Saturday.
About 150 flights, or 13%, have been delayed as of 9 a.m. on Friday. Hundreds of flights have been delayed or canceled since Wednesday.
The Transportation Security Administration expects around 18 million air passengers over the Memorial Day holiday travel period, which typically marks the beginning of the busy summer travel season.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing Chiara Rodriquez)
