Escape by air from the tropical north Queensland in the path of category-5 cyclone Yasi has become virtually impossible, with most regional airports in the danger zone now closed and airlines ceasing flights.
Cairns and Townsville airports closed at 10am this morning after a rush of early morning flights; Whitsunday Coast (Proserpine) airport closed last night and Hamilton Island's airstrip closed after the last flights out about 3pm yesterday.
Jetstar has announced that it has suspended scheduled services to and from Cairns, Hamilton Island, Whitsunday Coast (Proserpine) and Townsville today and tomorrow.
Qantas has suspended flights to and from Cairns and Townsville airports until Friday 4 February. The airline ''is monitoring weather patterns in the region closely and will make further operational decisions as the circumstances require''.
Virgin Blue has also ceased flights in and out of these airports today. The airline warned that did not know when regular operations would resume.
Jetstar has shifted its aircraft from its Cairns base to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
Qantas and its regional QantasLink services have also ceased from Cairns and Townsville though flights from Rockhampton, Gladstone, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay continue operating.
Cyclone Yasi continues to bear down on the Queensland coast, and is expected to hit between Innisfail and Cardwell at about 10pm tonight with destructive winds forecast to reach about 300km/h, accompanied by lashing rains that are forecast to dump 70mm.
Virgin Blue says that, at present, flights from Mackay, Rockhampton, Fraser Coast (Hervey bay) and Sunshine Coast (Maroochydore) are unaffected, though the situation with Mackay may change later today.
Today Jetstar said it was hopeful it would be able to operate its two afternoon flights from Mackay to Brisbane.
Jetstar's Cairns-Tokyo route has also been affected, with returning passengers forced to stay an extra day in Japan.
Both airlines said their respective call centres were experiencing a heavy volume of calls and delays are to be expected.
All airlines put on extra flights yesterday and this morning but all seats were snapped up within minutes of being made available.
Between Jetstar and Virgin Blue, more than 2000 extra passengers were carried from the north tropical coast, on top of their normal services.
Hamilton Island resort has evacuated more than 800 guests, with 60 guests and 300 staff choosing to remain on the island, including the management team.
Remaining guests have been moved to the main hotel complex and an emergency medical centre and and emergency control centre has been activated. The resort will move to a "code red" at 8pm tonight.
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