Flights at Italy’s Catania airport were suspended on Saturday because of volcanic ash from Mount Etna, closing Sicily’s main air gateway and the country’s fifth-busiest airport by passenger traffic.
All arrivals at Catania-Fontanarossa were halted until 10:00 GMT on Sunday — midday local time — the company operating the hub said in a report carried by Hiru News from Reuters, which cited both the ash and weather conditions.
The restrictions tightened through the day
The closure came in stages. Ash was reported escaping Etna’s north-east crater and drifting south. Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) measured the plume at roughly 4km high, and the country’s aviation alert for the volcano was raised to red, the highest level, Gulf News reported.
Before the full shutdown, the airport had been running at four landings an hour against a normal twelve. Arrivals were then suspended outright, initially until 4 p.m. local time, before the halt was pushed back to Sunday midday.
Etna is Europe’s highest and most active volcano and disrupts Catania regularly. Ash emissions have been unusually heavy this summer, affecting thousands of travellers through the peak holiday season.
Why the date matters
Catania has closed for Etna ash repeatedly, and the headlines are close to identical each time — including an arrivals suspension in early August 2026 and an earlier shutdown in July 2024. This is a distinct event: the markers are the red aviation alert, the roughly 4km plume from the north-east crater, and the extension of the suspension into Sunday 27 September.
Reopening depends on Etna’s activity and the wind direction. Passengers were advised to check with their airline before travelling to the airport.
