Flight disruptions at JFK to stretch to a third day

Flight disruptions involving international flights at JFK Airport in New York are expected to stretch into Saturday, although some service is expected to return.

The power outage forced a closure of the airport's Terminal 1 as a result of a fire and has disrupted inbound and outbound flights  at one of the world's busiest airports. 

The airport posted on Twitter that some service is expected to resume on Saturday.

The agency said 39 of the 64 flights scheduled to arrive or depart from Terminal 1 on Friday were canceled, 13 were operating from other terminals and 12 were being routed through other airports.

ELECTRICAL OUTAGE AT JFK AIRPORT LEAVES PASSENGERS STRANDED

The outage came about following what has been described as a small fire in a utility area.

"Travelers should check with their carriers for flight status before coming to the airport," JFK said. The Port Authority is continuing to work with the terminal's operator to restore flight operations as quickly as possible, it added.

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The terminal serves 17 international carriers, including Air France and Lufthansa.

Terminal 1 at Kennedy opened in the late 1990s. It is scheduled to be replaced by a new, $9.5 billion terminal now under construction, according to the Associated Press.

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Among the disrupted flights, the outage forced a JFK-bound Air New Zealand airplane to return to Auckland about eight hours into a trip, returning to its departure point about 16 hours after the flight began.

Travelers should check their flight status before going to JFK.

Reuters contributed to this report.