Harshita Mathur, Pune
A new eruption at adjacent Mount Etna forced the airport in Catania, Sicily, a renowned tourist destination in Italy, to allegedly cancel all flights on Monday, August 14. Due to the volcanic activity, which also caused flights from significant locations including Malta, France, Austria, and other regions of Italy to be suspended, delayed, and canceled, the Catania Airport, which typically serves 200 planes per day in August, was forced to close.
The major entrance to Sicily is through this airport, which is situated about 50 km south of Mount Etna. The incident was discovered after a Casablanca-bound plane landed at 2:38 AM local time on a Monday.
According to the Etna observatory of the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, the volcanic activity, which started late on Sunday, developed into a “lava fountain,” creating a volcanic cloud that was distributed in a southerly direction. Enrico Tarantino, the mayor of Catania, imposed a 48-hour ban on riding motorcycles and bicycles because volcanic ash may readily coat roads, making them slick and increasing the risk of accidents.
The 3,330-meter-high (10,925-foot) volcano, as per reports, erupted overnight, spewing lava and ash far above the Mediterranean island. The lava flow had lessened by the time daybreak arrived, but ash can still be seen spewing from one of the craters. This shutdown of the airport came only days after it reopened after being closed due to a catastrophic fire in its terminal building in mid-July.
Even on May 21, an eruption resulted in Catania Airport’s daylong closure. Last year, the airport, which serves the eastern part of Sicily, had almost 10 million passengers.