Italy: Etna eruption in Sicily halts Catania flights

Sicily’s Catania airport on Wednesday suspended flights till at the very least 4 p.m. native time (1400 GMT/UTC) on Thursday, responding to contemporary ash emissions from Mount Etna. 

The volcanic ash can pose a hazard to plane and so has pressured regulators to limit entry to the airspace round jap Sicily, disrupting the height summer time vacation season. 

Where have been flights affected?

“Passengers are advised to check the status of their flights with their airlines,” airport operator SAC mentioned. “Further updates will follow in the coming hours.” 

Travel disruptions have impacted jap Sicily specifically since final Friday, when renewed rumblings from Europe’s most energetic volcano and shifting winds began carrying ash over the area. The airspace was totally closed solely in current days because the eruption continued.

The extended restrictions at Catania — on Sicily’s jap coast simply south of Mount Etna — have positioned further pressure on Sicily’s different airports throughout one of many busiest seasons for vacationers. 

Palermo Mayor Roberto Lagalla mentioned that his metropolis’s airport had taken in round 190 flights initially scheduled to land on the jap aspect of the island in current days.

Italy’s ANSA information company additionally reported on Wednesday that flights have been resuming at Comiso airport, a smaller hub south of Catania, after it had suspended visitors late on Tuesday. 

Some of the volcanic ash was additionally drifting south throughout the Mediterranean in direction of Malta, which had reported vital delays and a few cancellations. On Wednesday, Malta International Airport continued to warn passengers of doable disruptions however mentioned that circumstances have been enhancing. 

What is Mount Etna?

Mount Etna is a roughly 3,400 meter (roughly 11,100 toes) stratovolcano on Sicily’s jap coast. Its exact top is ever altering, significantly amid intervals of excessive exercise when it may possibly shed a number of meters.

The metropolis of Catania is situated not far to the south. 

It is among the tallest energetic volcanoes in Europe and Italy’s highest peak south of the Alps. 

It’s in an nearly fixed state of low-level exercise and erupts in a extra pronounced method pretty regularly. It has precipitated disruptions at Catania airport a number of instances in recent times. 

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the primary volcanic exercise befell at Etna about half 1,000,000 years in the past.

Both Roman and Greek mythology asserted that the god of blacksmithing — both Vulcan or Hephaestus — had his forge beneath Mount Etna. 

Edited by: Louis Oelofse

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