US airlines are adding extra seat capacity and implementing ticket fare caps on flights in Hurricane Irma’s destruction path, as evacuations continue in Florida.

Delta Air Lines has added 2,000 extra seats, including approximately 1,100 in Ft. Lauderdale and 400 in Miami, plus capacity in Punta Cana, Nassau, Freeport, Key West, Sarasota and Orlando

It has also capped one-way fares in all cabins at $399 for flights to and from Southern Florida through 13 September and waived all baggage and pet-in-cabin fees for travellers covered by a weather waiver issued this week (click here to view a list of the impacted destinations).

American Airlines (AA) has also capped fares at $99 each way for main cabin seats and $199 for premium cabins for direct, single leg flights from cities covered under a travel alert (click here for further information). This is in place in more than 40 airports.

In addition, the airline has capped fares at $99 for those returning to affected areas between 10 September to 17 September.

In a statement to Money, AA confirmed it had added 16 flights to Miami and added more than 3,600 seats on a ‘limited availability’.

FLIGHTS ‘SHUTTING DOWN’ 

As reported by TRBusiness, Hurricane Irma has already devastated the Caribbean island of St Martin and the Turks and Caicos Islands, claiming more than 14 lives.

The territories of St. Barthélemy, Barbuda and Anguilla had earlier been badly struck, with more than 50% of residents left homeless and without communication or power.

This has led to widespread fears that the hurricane will bear down on Florida over the weekend.

A United Airlines spokesperson told Associated Press the airline is sold out of tickets in Florida through Friday, adding six flights.

AP added that United expects to cancel most flights to and from southern Florida from Saturday through Monday.

At the time of writing, more than 547 origin and destination flights at Miami International Airport had been cancelled, according to flight tracking service Flightaware.

AA added in a statement issued yesterday that the devastation has resulted in more than 2,200 cancelled flights throughout its worldwide network.

Operations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando, West Palm Beach and other airports will also be cancelled throughout the weekend.

Flights originating from Europe and South America that were scheduled to arrive Friday have also been cancelled.

“As many flights are already sold out, we encourage customers traveling out of South Florida to only go to the airport if they have a confirmed ticket,” the statement warned.

‘PRICE HIKES’

Claims circulating on social media that some airlines are profiting from the situation by so-called ‘fare gouging’ have been refuted by industry sources.

“Contrary to references in social media, Delta has not raised prices because of Hurricane Irma,” Anthony Black, a spokesman for the airline told the LA Times.