The Italian airport of Catania-Fontanarossa, located on the island of Sicily, has suspended all its operations until 11:00 hours tomorrow Wednesday, August 12, due to recent emissions of ash and rock fragments from the Etna volcano, which has forced the cancellation or diversion of more than 200 flights.
Air traffic in Sicily has already experienced five days of disruptions since last Friday when Etna began to expel large amounts of ash, to the point of forming dense lava flows from two eruptive mouths located at 2,360 and 2,750 meters in altitude, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) of Italy.
During the night of Monday, a new eruptive vent also opened at about 1,900 meters in height. This Tuesday, only one plane managed to take off on a domestic flight early in the morning, as reported by "DPA".
The affected passengers, estimated to be around 30,000 people, are trying to travel to the regional capital airport, Palermo. At the same time, numerous tourists in Sicily have been forced to extend their vacations, as the accommodation offer in this Italian destination is completely booked.
Etna, at more than 3,300 meters in altitude, erupts periodically and remains under constant observation by scientific authorities.