Etna ash shuts Catania airport, airlines divert and cancel flights
Volcanic ash from Mount Etna forced Catania Fontanarossa to suspend all arrivals and departures until midday on September 27. At least ten flights were diverted to other Italian airports and several services were cancelled.
Mount Etna has become active again, disrupting air travel in Sicily. Catania Airport suspended all arrivals and departures. The airport operator, SAC, said on September 26 that operations at Catania Fontanarossa would stop until 12:00 local time the following day because of volcanic ash and wind conditions. Airspace sectors C1 and B3 were closed as part of the restrictions.
The airport first worked at reduced capacity as the ash cloud approached, then tightened restrictions until both arrivals and departures were halted.
Diversions began before the full suspension. At least ten flights were redirected, according to Italian media reports: five to Palermo, three to Trapani and two to Comiso. Aeroitalia shifted its Rome-Catania services to Comiso while Catania was unavailable, and a Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Catania was sent to Rome Fiumicino.
Other carriers cancelled instead. KM Malta Airlines confirmed it scrapped KM642 from Malta to Catania and KM643 in the opposite direction on September 26, citing the volcanic activity and the restrictions at Catania. Brussels Airlines cancelled its Catania-Brussels service for the same day, saying around 140 passengers were affected and that those travellers were not expected to return until September 27 or 28. The airline also diverted another Catania service to Palermo, with passengers completing the journey by bus.
Passengers on diverted services faced itinerary changes and, in some cases, additional ground transport.
Sources
- aerotime.aeroEtna ash disrupts Catania flights, forcing diversions and cancelations