NEW YORK: Water leak at one of the control towers at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York caused dealy of Nearly 300 flights,  or cancellations of hundreds of flights, according to media reports.

The airport described the situation as a "minor water leak" in its main control tower, but the impact was significant.  The leak was reported in the main facility of the airport. Controllers operated from a secondary control tower during the leak. The disruption occurred on the busiest Independence Day weekend for travel since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Some 3.7 million Americans would reportedly fly this weekend, a 164 per cent increase from last year.

"Operations at this facility, combined with area weather, require more spacing between aircraft. "As such, the FAA is holding most flights destined for JFK from departing", the airport said in multiple tweets.

The airport is the busiest international air passenger gateway into North America and the busiest in the New York airport system, handling over 62.5 million passengers in 2019. More than 90 airlines operate from the airport, with non-stop or direct flights to destinations in all six inhabited continents.

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