Rome, Sept 27. (dpa/GNA) – Sicily’s Catania airport remained closed to air traffic on Sunday afternoon, due to a heavy emission of volcanic ash from Mount Etna.
The ban on take-offs and landings, imposed on Saturday, has been extended until midnight (2200 GMT) on Sunday, the airport operator said on its website.
The Catania-Fontanarossa Airport has repeatedly had to close or severely restrict flight operations in recent months, due to ash from Etna.
The volcano on the Italian island is the most active in Europe, and regularly emits ash. Ash is currently emerging from the north-eastern crater, and being carried southward by the wind. According to the Italian Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), the ash cloud reaches four kilometres into the sky.
Aviation is currently under a red alert, as it was last week and in August, the highest of four warning levels.
Catania-Fontanarossa Airport is the largest on the island and the fifth-largest in Italy. It is also used by large numbers of foreign visitors travelling to Italy’s largest Mediterranean island.
When Catania is closed, airlines transfer their passengers to other Sicilian airports such as Palermo or Comiso.
GNA