Thousands of passengers have been hit by widespread cancellations of flights to and from the northeast coast of the US today ahead of a severe snow storm that is expected to hit several cities including New York, Boston and Washington DC.

British Airways has cancelled all six flights to New York JFK from London Heathrow from 14.20 this afternoon and one flight that was due to leave for Newark at 17.25. A flight to Washington DC, due to depart at 14.30, has been cancelled, along with several return flilghts from both cities.

Virgin Atlantic said it has also cancelled some flights and it is urging passengers to check the status of their flights before travelling to the airport. Heathrow Airport said other airlines might also be affected.

The brunt of the storm is expected to hit the northeast today with heavy snow, reaching Washington first and New York and Boston by early afternoon.

Airlines have cancelled 279 flights at New York’s La Guardia Airport and 259 at Philadelphia International Airport, according to FlightAware, a Houston-based flight tracking service.

Forecasters expect up to 12 inches of snow to fall in New York and Washington over the next 24 hours, making it the biggest storm to hit the US capital for three years.

ATLANTA, GA – Delta Air Lines has been named the 2014 Airline of the Year by Air Transport World magazine, the first time for a US carrier in a decade.

The ATW awards are among the most coveted and valued honors in the airline industry. In February 2014, ATW editors will present the 40th Annual Airline Industry Achievement Awards at a celebration in Singapore.

“It’s an honor to have the hard work of Delta people recognized with the Airline of the Year award from Air Transport World,” said Richard Anderson, Delta’s chief executive officer. “Our values and culture are the foundation for our success. The professionalism and commitment of Delta people to our company, to one another and to our customers is unmatched.”

In selecting Delta as Airline of the Year, ATW editors cited leadership in several categories, including innovation and leadership by executive management; strong financial discipline; a consistent and excellent safety record; proven leadership in community, environmental and technological endeavors; consistent high standards of customer service; and excellent employee relations.

“The airline industry, here in the U.S. and globally, has never been as competitive, so when ATW editors make their Airline of the Year selection they focus on those airlines whose leadership truly stand out from the crowd through strong financial discipline, innovative thinking, superb operational and customer service standards, and excellent employee relations, said ATW Editor-in-Chief Karen Walker. “Delta clearly met all those standards and has demonstrable, measurable statistics to prove it. Delta and its employees thoroughly deserve this award and I congratulate them on their achievements.”

Winners and their achievements will be featured in a special section of the ATW March 2014 edition. Additionally, highlights of the Gala Awards event will also be published in the ATW April 2014 edition.

Delta in 2013 was named No. 1 airline on the Fortune magazine “Most Admired” global airline industry list for the second time in three years, received the No. 1 ranking in the Business Travel News Annual Airline Survey for the third year in a row and was recognized as Best Domestic Airline at Travel Weekly Reader’s Choice Awards, among other accolades.

Passengers travelling to the US continue to be hit by flight delays and cancellations today due to a severe snow storm that has forced airlines to ground at least 885 flights.

British Airways has cancelled four flights to New York throughout today after a foot of snow fell in the city on Tuesday.

Other flights to New York, Boston, Washington and Philadelphia may also be disrupted.

Almost 3,000 flights were cancelled yesterday when strong winds and sub-zero temperatures hit the northeast coast. Before traveling, please contact your airline for current flight status updates.

The Ecuadorean airline Tame today suspended its once-daily flights to and from Venezuela until that country’s cash-strapped government pays it $43 million owed for ticket sales.

The carrier was the first to halt flights to Venezuela, whose socialist government owes carriers a total of $3.3 billion, according to Venezuela’s airlines association.

The airlines are victims of Venezuela’s rigid currency controls, which prevent them from repatriating proceeds from tickets sold in the oil-rich South American country.

Adding to difficulties, Venezuela’s bolivar has plunged to a tenth of its official value on the black market, making tickets purchased in Venezuela some of the cheapest in the world in dollar terms.

In recent weeks airline representatives have met with officials to discuss a government proposal to pay off the debt with a combination of cash, bonds and fuel.

But talks have so far failed to produce a deal and Tame and several other airlines are losing patience.

In Venezuela, the TV station Globovision reported that Air Canada had stopped selling tickets in the country.

No one answered the phone at Air Canada’s offices in Caracas and a local call center worker told The Associated Press that she had received orders to suspend all sales and reservations. She said she was not authorized to give her name.

The airline’s media office in Canada didn’t reply to an email request for comment.

Tame General Manager Fernando Guerrero told reporters in Quito, Wednesday, that Venezuela hasn’t paid the airline since March, the month that Venezuela’s longtime president, Hugo Chavez, died of cancer.

He says it costs Tame $5 million a month to keep the daily Caracas-Quito route operating.

Venezuela owes bigger airlines, such as Colombia’s Avianca, tens of millions of dollars.

Under new currency rules announced Wednesday, travelers will now be required to purchase tickets at a higher rate established at weekly central bank auctions, where the greenback currently fetches about 11 bolivars.

In Venezuela, government and airline officials were meeting to discuss the debt. According to Humberto Figuera, head of the airlines association, international treaties oblige governments to ensure airlines’ costs are covered.

Airlines are preparing for a Europe-wide air traffic control strike next Wednesday which could lead to mass flight disruption.

Germany’s air traffic controllers are planning to strike for one hour on January 29, in a show of support for an expected Europe-wide strike, their union boss told Reuters.

But he added that the German controllers could not do more without running the risk of legal action being taken against them.

The Air Traffic Controllers European Unions Coordination(ATCEUC), which represents 14,000 flight overseers across 28 European countries, has revived plans to strike over planned safety and savings targets by the European Commission, which it says could endanger the safe provision of services.

Britain has the most expensive airport parking in the world with huge peak-time charges.

Peak-time parking at Heathrow’s Terminal 4 is £12 for between one and two hours with a two hour stay costing £10 at Gatwick and Stansted, and £11 at Luton, reports the Mirror.

While short-term parking can be found at New York’s JFK airport for £5.50 and £6.60 at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle.

The only major international airport close to British prices is Sydney, where a stay of between one and two hours costs £11.

Glasgow and Edinburgh airports are also high with the price of a two-hour stay costing £9 and £8.90 respectively.

Heathrow Airport said it was trialling these peak tariffs to improve the journey for passengers travelling to Terminal 4 specifically at peak times.

A spokeswoman said: “In November last year, we increased the price of parking in Terminal 4 between the hours of 0600 – 0800 and 1830 – 2030.

“At this same time, we made the decision to make the long stay car park just a few meters across the road from Terminal 4 free for the first two hours with a bus connecting to the terminal every 10 minutes.

“The reason for this change is because Terminal 4 has been reaching over capacity during these hours with the volume of friends and family being brought to meet arriving and departing passengers – this is specific to Terminal 4 only.

“Without our intervention, the vehicle queue to the car park reaches back to the motorway, putting passengers at risk of missing their flight while impacting the safe flow of traffic.”

At many airports, including Athens and Berlin, the first 20 minutes of parking are free in order to allow the unhurried picking up and dropping off of passengers.