New York, Jul 5 (IANS): Water leak at one of the control towers at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York caused the delays or cancellations of hundreds of flights, according to media reports.

Nearly 300 flights were reportedly delayed or diverted, Xinhua news agency quoted the reports as saying on Sunday.

The leak was reported in the main facility of the airport. Controllers operated from a secondary control tower during the leak.

The disruption occurred on the busiest Independence Day weekend for travel since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some 3.7 million Americans would reportedly fly this weekend, a 164 per cent increase from last year.

The airport is the busiest international air passenger gateway into North America and the busiestin the New York airport system, handling over 62.5 million passengers in 2019.

More than 90 airlines operate from the airport, with non-stop or direct flights to destinations in all six inhabited continents.