Sicily’s largest airport in Catania reopened at 6 a.m. local time after an eruption of Mount Etna forced it to close on Monday.
(Bloomberg) — Sicily’s largest airport in Catania reopened at 6 a.m. local time after an eruption of Mount Etna forced it to close on Monday.
The website of Catania Airport, Italy’s sixth by passenger traffic before the pandemic, is showing mostly regular flights with some minor delays and a few cancellations on Tuesday.
Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, erupted between Sunday and Monday in the southeast crater at an altitude of about 2,700 meters, spewing smoke and ash, the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said. The activity has since stopped, the institute said on Tuesday.
Mount Etna Eruption’s Ash Cloud Grounds Sicily Travelers
Ash plumes are dangerous to aircraft as their particles can damage jet engines. In 2010, the eruption of a volcano in Iceland created a huge plume of ash that forced many European countries to close their air space, leading to thousands of canceled flights.
Catania Airport, which is about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Mount Etna, last faced disruption in July when it had to suspend flights due to a fire while heat waves and wildfires hit southern Europe this summer.
–With assistance from Kate Duffy.
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