The Catania airport, in the east of the Italian island of Sicily, suspended all flights on Monday due to a new eruption of the Etna volcano, the airport management company Sac announced.
“Due to an eruption of Etna (…) all departures and arrivals are canceled until 13:00” (noon in Lisbon), the airport operator announced around 05:00 (04:00 in Lisbon).
In a post on the social network X (formerly Twitter), Sac also asked passengers to contact the airline they are flying with for more information.
The Etna volcano, the most active in Europe, erupted this morning spewing a cloud of ash over the city of Catania, which was dispersed by southerly winds.
Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) confirmed the activity, which “turned into a lava fountain” flowing south from the volcano’s crater at an altitude of 2,800 meters.
The closure of the airport coincides with the traditional start of the holidays, on August 15, a date popularly known in Italy as “Ferragosto”. The island of Sicily is one of the favorite summer destinations for Italians and foreigners.
The airport, located about 60 kilometers south of the volcano, had already suspended flight operations in mid-May, also due to an eruption of Mount Etna, which left no one injured.
Etna “has a very long eruptive history, spanning half a million years, but it is only in the last hundred thousand years that the volcano has taken on the conical shape that characterizes it today,” according to the Etna website. INGV. .
According to historical records, one of the most severe eruptions of Mount Etna, located 3,324 meters above sea level, occurred in 1669 and caused around 20,000 deaths.
In 2022, around 10 million passengers passed through Vincenzo Bellini International Airport, which serves the eastern part of Sicily, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Italy.
Source: TSF
