US: Houston airports resume limited service

Storm-hit Houston airports George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) and William P. Hobby (HOU) will reopen for limited operations on Wednesday at 4 p.m. CT, days after deadly flooding from Tropical Storm Harvey forced them to close. “It’s going to be a phased process that will begin with limited domestic flights,” said Houston Airports System spokesman Bill Begley, adding that only a “handful” of flights will be offered Wednesday. Air services in the region had been crippled since Friday by the storm, as historic flooding swallowed roads leading into airports and created dangerous travel conditions. By Wednesday, conditions had improved, but enough problems persisted to only allow for very limited service. United, which has cancelled thousands of flights as a result of the storm, said it would resume limited hub-to-hub flying on Wednesday with three inbound and three outbound flights at Bush Intercontinental. American Airlines said it would not resume flights at Bush Intercontinental until Thursday, Aug. 31, and at Hobby until Friday, Sept. 1. Flights on Southwest, one of the region’s largest carriers, remain suspended at Hobby through noon on Saturday, Sept. 2. Government officials said they do not expect full operations to ramp up until next week. <br/>