Catania airport on the Italian island of Sicily was closed on Friday due to the eruption of Mount Etna, Europe’s largest active volcano, whose ashes are spreading through the airspace.
“The runway is not usable due to the significant fall of volcanic ash. Consequently, arrivals and departures are suspended,” the Catania airport management company announced in a statement.
Flights are due to resume at 3:00 pm local time. (2:00 p.m. in Lisbon), he said in a note.
At 3,324 meters high, the Etna has entered rash frequently over the past 500,000 years. In recent days, its central crater has been spewing lava flows and ash clouds that have affected the nearby Catania airport.
????????? On the island of Sicily (Italy), the Etna volcano exerted intense activity, throwing lava into the Voragine crater.
Visitors accompanied by volcanologists admired the spectacle of explosions and flames.
????️ @ElFinanciero_Mx
???? reproduction pic.twitter.com/PWtJ6XklMX— Planeta da Notícia ????️ (@plandanoticia) July 5, 2024
Toward The ash reached a height of 4.5 kilometers.Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) said on Thursday in social network.
Etna, volcanic cloud crater, height 4.5 kilometers. Engv emette Vona rosso per i voli, Catania airport is operational #ANSA https://t.co/lGFx5q4GOW
– Ansa Sicilia (@AnsaSicilia) July 4, 2024
Images posted on social media on Friday showed streets in central Catania covered in thick layers of black ash, causing traffic jams.
Italian authorities have also issued a red alert for another volcano, Stromboli, located on the island of the same name in the Aeolian archipelago (northern Sicily), whose eruption produced large clouds of ash.
This volcano, whose summit reaches 920 metres and whose base is 2,000 metres below sea level, is one of the few in the world that presents almost continuous activity, according to the INGV.
Millions of passengers pass through Catania International Airport every year, serving the eastern part of Sicily, one of Italy’s most popular tourist destinations.
Source: Observadora
