At Catania airport in Sicily, flights gradually resumed on Friday, July 5, after a short pause due to the eruption of Mount Etna, Europe’s largest active volcano, whose ash ‘invaded the airspace. The ash-covered runway was cleared and flights resumed from the airport. Arrivals are currently limited to two flights per hour, the airport management company said in X.
At 3,324 meters high, Etna has erupted frequently in recent years. In recent days, its central crater has spewed lava and ash clouds, affecting the Catania airport located below. The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) said on Thursday that the ash plumes reached a height of 4.5 kilometers.
Images posted on social media on Friday showed streets in central Catania covered in thick layers of black ash, causing traffic delays.
Italian authorities have issued a red alert for another volcano, Stromboli, which dominates the eponymous island of the Aeolian archipelago (north of Sicily), whose eruption has caused significant ash clouds. The volcano, whose summit rises 920 meters and whose base lies 2,000 meters below sea level, is one of the few in the world that exhibits nearly continuous activity, according to INGV.
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