Hurricane Ike update: Flights resume, Carnival ship in Houston

As Houston recovers from Hurricane Ike, airlines are restoring service there, and Carnival Cruise Lines today began operating out of the Port of Houston. But the city is far from fully up and running, according to the tourism bureau and reports from visitors, with many hotels damaged, closed or turning away guests because they are housing recovery personnel and others.

Houston remains under a midnight-to-6 a.m. curfew, expected to continue into the weekend. The curfew doesn’t apply to fliers going to or from airports, but be prepared to show your boarding pass or ticket receipt if stopped, Continental Airlines advises.

Some updates:

Continental Airlines: The Houston-based carrier has resumed its full schedule at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), with 98.5% of flights running on time Wednesday and no cancellations, spokeswoman Julie King said. Customers who had been scheduled to fly in or out of Houston between Sept. 11 and Sept. 30 can change their flights without paying change fees or extra fares. For details, check Continental’s website. For trips originating in Houston or Beaumont/Port Arthur, Texas, and booked by midnight Friday, the airline is offering round-trip domestic fares of $138, plus taxes and fees, for flights under 500 miles each way and $238 for flights over 500 miles.

Delta Air Lines: Has been operating a partial schedule, but expects to resume all its flights to Bush (IAH) and William P. Hobby (HOU) airports by Sunday. Delta appears to be matching Continental’s $138 and $239 round-trip fare deals, with some restrictions.

Southwest Airlines: Still flying a reduced schedule to Hobby (HOU) airport, with plans to add more flights Friday. But no date has been set to resume the full schedule, said spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger. The city continues to have problems with power outages, she explained, which have knocked out Southwest’s reservations center in Houston. Customers who booked Houston flights for travel through Friday can change without penalty, Southwest says.

Carnival Cruise Lines: Carnival Conquest, which sailed out of Galveston, Texas, on Sept. 7 and was diverted to New Orleans Monday, arrived at the Port of Houston this morning, said Carnival spokesman Tim Gallagher. The Carnival Ecstasy, also diverted to New Orleans, is expected to arrive Friday. Carnival expects to sail the two ships out of Houston until Galveston’s port reopens.

Although the Port of Houston’s website says Carnival will sail from Houston for the next 45 to 60 days, Gallagher said no date has been set to return to Galveston “because we do not have info from the Port of Galveston on the extent of damage and how long they believe it will take them to reopen.” He said Carnival, which is posting updates on its website, hopes to have more information next week.

—Jane Engle, assistant Los Angeles Times Travel editor

[Photo: Volunteers load up cars with food and supplies, destined for hurricane relief,  in the parking lot at the University of Houston; Mario Jose Sanchez / Associated Press]

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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 12:40 pm by Jane Engle and is filed under Airline travel, Business Travel, Caribbean, New Orleans & Louisiana, News, Tips & Advice, Texas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.