Flights Resume at Sicily's Catania Airport After Etna Eruption

Catania Airport in Sicily has resumed flight operations following a recent eruption of Mount Etna, which had caused widespread disruption.

The airport operator, SAC, announced the restart of services after the alert level for volcanic activity was reduced from red to orange. While initial operations were slow, the resumption marks a significant step towards normalcy after days of cancellations and diversions.

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the impact of the volcano's eruption on the airport's infrastructure was the greatest in the last 20 years.

During the period of heightened volcanic activity, which began over a week ago, hundreds of flights were affected. SAC reported that approximately 36% of flights scheduled between August 6-12 were canceled. The airport operator noted that the impact of this eruption on airport infrastructure was the most severe in the past two decades.

Mount Etna, Europe's most active volcano, erupts regularly. However, Mario Mattia from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) explained that the prolonged ash emissions, carried directly over the airport by prevailing winds, caused particularly extensive damage to air traffic this time. Flight tracking service Flightradar24 confirmed that most inbound and outbound flights were operating according to schedule following the resumption.

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this time, the prolonged ash emissions, which the constant southern wind carried directly over the airport, caused particularly great damage to air traffic.