Arrivals at Catania International Airport in Sicily were suspended until 12:00 local time, or 10:00 GMT, after a new eruption of Mount Etna sent volcanic ash into the atmosphere. The airport said the airspace corresponding to the ash cloud had been closed.
Departures by aircraft already at the airport were operating normally, according to the airport’s statement. Catania serves eastern Sicily, a major tourist destination, making the ash-related restriction directly relevant to travellers flying into the region.
At a glance:
- Arrivals were suspended until 12:00 local time, or 10:00 GMT.
- The restriction followed the closure of airspace over Etna’s volcanic ash cloud.
- Departures of aircraft already at Catania airport were operating normally.
- Mount Etna is 3,324 metres high and is Europe’s tallest active volcano.
Why flights were affected
Catania airport said Etna’s eruptive activity and the associated release of volcanic ash prompted the closure of airspace covering the ash cloud. The airport did not announce a suspension of departures for aircraft already there.
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A plume of smoke was visible from the summit on a webcam operated through the website of Italy’s National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology, which monitors the volcano. The flight restriction was therefore tied to the ash cloud in the atmosphere rather than a general airport shutdown.
Etna’s ongoing activity
At 3,324 metres, Mount Etna is the tallest active volcano in Europe. The volcano has erupted frequently during the past half-million years and is among the world’s most active volcanoes.
Tough restrictions and ash advisories have been in place since last July because of increasingly intense eruption activity. Those measures have also affected guides who take tourists up the mountain to view lava flows.
Impact on volcano excursions
In January, authorities in Catania suspended or restricted excursions to see the volcano’s lava flows. Guides demonstrated for the first time in front of the lava-flow gate, calling the new restrictions excessive and arguing that the flows moved slowly enough to be viewed safely, as they had been in the past.
Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology confirmed in January that the eruptions were continuing, while the lava fronts were cooling and not advancing further. That earlier assessment concerned the lava fronts; the airport’s latest restriction was linked to volcanic ash released into the atmosphere.
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