Catania Airport is expected to be closed Thursday until 6 pm after being covered with ash from the eruption of Mount Etna on Wednesday. Mount Etna was active between Wednesday and Friday. The image was taken by Etna guide Vincenzo Modica from a live webcam.
Mount Etna was active between Wednesday and Friday. Catania Airport was closed and all flights were cancelled to and from Sicily after Mount Etna’s eruption. Ash and molten lava were thrown into the sky for kilometres.
According to the Italian Institute of Geofisica and Volcanology (IGV), the volcano erupted Wednesday night, with columns containing ash and lava reaching heights up to 9.5km. IGV reported that the volcano calmed in the morning hours of Thursday.
Catania Airport was closed due to the threat posed by fine ash which covered the runway and clouded up the air. It is anticipated that the airport will remain closed until Thursday evening at 6 pm.
The return flight as well as the flight scheduled for 6 am from Malta had to be cancelled.The eruption occurred at the height of the holiday travel season in Italy, called Ferragosto. It disrupted thousands of flights.The regional newspaper La Sicilia in Sicily reported the volcanic eruption caused the pyroclastic materials to fall on the towns of Vetore, Nicolosi, Ragalna and Pedara.
