Catania airport operating with limitations in view of Etna eruptions

Update : Flights have resumed although in a limited way. In fact the flights will be operated four per hour.

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http://www.aeroporto.catania.it

Earlier:

The Fontanarossa airport operations in Catania has been stopped in view of the Etna eruptions.

ANSA reports that the new eruptive fracture has opened in Etna’s south-east crater, sending up a cloud of ash and forcing the closure of the local airport’s air space, local sources said Monday.

 Catania airport was shut from 14:00, its crisis unit decided, the sources said.

In its latest show of pyrotechnics in eastern Sicily, the relatively new crater on the southeastern slope of Europe’s tallest active volcano spewed out “sporadic bursts” of lava and ash plumes, volcanologists said.

Catania’s international airport, 60 km to the south, has had its air space closed but some flights may be possible, the crisis unit said.

Bigger blowups in the past have shut down the airport completely and covered Catania in ash.

This is a developing story.