Flights at Fort Lauderdale's airport will come to a halt at
7:45 p.m. on Friday with Category 5 Hurricane Irma barreling toward South
Florida.
The airport will remain closed through the weekend.
Miami International plans to halt operations when winds
reach a sustained speed of 35 miles per hour. American Airlines, the largest
carrier in Miami, will halt arrivals to the airport beginning at 1 p.m. Friday.
The airline will suspend flights out of Miami shortly before 4 p.m. Flights
will be grounded throughout the weekend.
American has also announced that it will follow a similar
schedule in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Fort Myers. The carrier will
cease flight operations in Orlando at 2 p.m. Saturday.