Catania Airport in Sicily has been forced to suspend all incoming flights and block departures until at least 2:00 PM on Monday, July 6, after Mount Etna erupted overnight. The closure has disrupted services from major airlines including Ryanair, British Airways, and Easyjet.
Flight Restrictions and Airline Impact
In a statement on its website, the airport said: “Following the volcanic activity that occurred during the night between Sunday, July 5th and Monday, July 6th, all incoming flight operations remain suspended and departures are fully blocked, currently until 2:00 PM. Passengers are kindly requested not to travel to the airport unless they have first checked the status of their flight with their airline. Further updates will follow.”
Among the affected services are a British Airways Euroflyer flight to London Gatwick and an Easyjet flight to Bristol. Ryanair, which also serves the airport, has seen multiple cancellations and diversions.
Alert Level and Diversions
According to the Italian Government’s Civil Protection Department, “currently, the alert level for Etna is yellow.” The alert system uses four colours—green, yellow, orange, and red—to indicate the volcano's activity state and potential for events of national importance.
Palermo airport reported handling 33 more flights than usual on Sunday and expects a further 17 on Monday. Other flights have been diverted to smaller Sicilian airports at Cosimo and Trapani, as well as to Rome and Vienna. Catania, located only 29 miles from Etna, serves several of Europe’s largest airlines.
Official Statements
Rai, the Italian public service broadcaster, reported: “In an update on the situation at Etna, SAC, the Catania airport management company, announced that incoming flights have been suspended. Departures of aircraft currently at the airport are permitted.”
The Civil Protection Department explained: “Alert levels describe the state of volcano activity, i.e. whether the volcano is in a state of equilibrium or disequilibrium. They are identified based on a combination of monitoring parameters and data from any ongoing events. They are represented by four colours - green, yellow, orange and red - which are indicative of the possible evolution of the state of volcano activity towards event scenarios 'of national importance', which require to be faced with extraordinary means and powers, through the coordinated intervention of a plurality of subjects.”
Passengers are advised to check with their airlines before travelling to the airport, as further updates are expected.
