Flights at Catania airport suspended until Saturday due to ash from Mount Etna

Flights at Catania airport, in Sicily, will remain suspended until early Saturday morning (15) due to ash resulting from the volcanic activity of Mount Etna, which forced the cancellation or redirection of hundreds of flights in the last week.

All arrivals at the airport, Italy's fifth busiest in terms of passenger traffic, will be suspended until 2am on August 15, the airport's operator, SAC, said in a statement released yesterday.

Passengers were advised to check the status of their flights with their respective airlines before heading to the airport.

The prolonged restrictions come at the height of the summer holiday season, affecting thousands of passengers, and have put additional pressure on other airports in Sicily.

Mount Etna, Europe's highest and most active volcano, frequently disrupts operations at Catania airport, whose operator began selling a stake of at least 51% in May.

Volcanic ash is considered one of the most serious hazards to aviation, as it can damage aircraft systems and cause jet engine failures.

In 1982, a British Airways Boeing 747 temporarily lost power in all four engines after flying through an ash cloud from Indonesia's Mount Galunggung before the crew was able to safely restart them.

The current disruption is the most serious to affect Catania airport in at least two decades, according to SAC sources cited by Italian news agency Ansa.

Between August 6 and 12, around 630 flights were diverted to other airports, while more than a third of the 1,974 flights scheduled in Catania were cancelled.