All flights departing and arriving at Sicily’s Catania airport are canceled until at least 8 p.m. (Paris time) on Monday, August 14, due to the eruption of Mount Etna, which threw volcanic ash that falls on the airspace.
Earlier in the day, the management company of Catania airport announced that departing and arriving flights were only canceled until 1 p.m., asking passengers to contact their airline to more information.
At the same time, the mayor of Catania, Enrico Trantino, signed a decree “prohibiting for the next forty-eight hours the circulation of two-wheelers, bicycles and motorcycles, since many areas of the city are covered with a layer volcanic ash,” the municipality said on its website.
At 3,324 meters, Etna is the highest active volcano in Europe. It has erupted frequently over the past 500,000 years.
Last year, around 10 million passengers passed through Catania International Airport, which serves the eastern part of Sicily, one of Italy’s most popular tourist destinations.
