Stranded passengers across the UAE breathed a sign of relief as Emirates and Etihad resumed operations to New York this morning, with JFK reopening to flights post Tropical Storm Sandy.

The ‘Frankenstorm’, which is being touted as the largest in US history, is being held responsible for the cancellation of 19,000 flights in total, according to Flightaware.com.

While neighbouring Newark International in New Jersey is still staggering, JFK is now reportedly fully functional, prompting Emirates to resume two out of its daily four flights from November 1.

In a statement, the airline said: “Due to improvement of weather conditions in the eastern part of the United State Emirates flights EK201 and EK202 to and from New York on 1st November will resume as per the schedule. Emirates flights EK203 and EK204 remain cancelled.

“Passengers holding tickets to/from New York are advised to contact their local Emirates office and check the status of their flight...”

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways issued a similar update, which said: “Due to an improvement in the weather situation over the north eastern United States, and the re-opening of New York JFK international airport, Etihad Airways can confirm that its scheduled EY101 and EY100 flights are operating normally.”

According to reports, a little over 500 flights remain cancelled today, with this week seeing airlines scrapping operations into New York, New Jersey, Washington DC, Philadelphia and Boston since Sunday.