Tropical Storm Nicole causes U.S. flight cancellations

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Airlines in the United States canceled more than 1,350 flights on Thursday as Tropical Storm Nicole made landfall on the east coast of Florida, forcing airports in the region to shut.

Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Southwest Airlines canceled more than 150 flights each, while United Airlines called off 85 trips, according to flight-tracking website Flightaware.com. Another 2,000 U.S. flights were delayed Thursday.

Orlando International Airport, which had halted operations, said domestic arrivals would resume at 8 p.m. ET. Other operations were to resume Friday.

Daytona Beach International was set to reopen early Friday while Palm Beach International reopened on Thursday morning.

Nearly 990 flights were canceled on Wednesday. The Federal Aviation Administration had earlier warned travelers that it expected the tropical storm to strengthen and affect travel in Florida and along the southeast coast.

(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Cynthia Osterman)