ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — One of the busiest airports in the country has halted commercial flights as Hurricane Ian makes its way to Florida. Orlando International Airport stopped all commercial flights starting at 10:30 a.m. EDT. 

Tom Draper, the senior director of airport operations for the Greater Orlando Airport Authority, said a silver lining of Hurricane Ian slowing down is that it allowed them time to keep more flights Wednesday morning. 

“Which helps hopefully free up some hotel rooms for some that are trying to evacuate from either coast, the east or the west coast. So, by us doing that, I think that was very important,” Draper said.

He said OIA worked closely with the National Weather Service to ensure that the flights Wednesday morning would be safe. 

That was welcome news for thousands of people looking to fly far away from Central Florida while the storm remains a threat. 

Among those was Tony Johnson. He and his family were visiting Walt Disney World for a family vacation when Hurricane Ian started strengthening. He said they had two canceled flights before they were finally able to book their trip back to Louisiana. 

He said they’re praying for those staying in Central Florida. They endured the fallout from Hurricane Ida last year. That storm made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane.

“Not having power for a week, almost two weeks last August. So, it’s a relief just to get back home for us,” he said.

While commercial flights stopped on Wednesday, OIA won’t be shutting down entirely. It will remain open to allow emergency aid and relief flights to land when recovery efforts really start to take off.

There is no set time for when commercial flights will resume. Airport officials advise travelers to check in with the individual airlines about their flights.