Mount Etna ash cloud shuts Catania airport, cancels over 150 flights including connections to Poland

Eruption and ash cloud

On Sunday, July 5, Mount Etna began emitting ash from its Voragine crater at around 7:45 a.m. local time. The plume of volcanic ash and gases rose to approximately 1.6 kilometers above the crater, and by evening, incandescent lava fragments were also ejected. The Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Center reported the ash cloud moving southeast at about 45 km/h, potentially reaching an altitude of 8,000 meters. The Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) raised the aviation alert to its highest red level.

Airport closure and flight cancellations

Catania–Fontanarossa Airport, the busiest on Sicily, was forced to suspend all operations. Initially, arrivals were limited to five per hour, but by Sunday the airport stopped accepting any incoming flights, allowing only departures of aircraft already on the tarmac. On Monday, the airport announced that all arrivals and departures would remain halted until at least 2:00 p.m. In total, 154 flights were cancelled, diverted, or suspended, according to local media.

Due to volcanic activity during the night of Sunday 5 July to Monday 6 July, all arriving flights are suspended and departing flights are completely halted — currently until 2:00 p.m. We kindly ask passengers not to travel to the airport unless they have first checked their flight status with the airline.

Impact on Polish travellers

Several flights between Catania and Polish cities were directly affected. On Monday, Wizz Air's morning service to Katowice (W6 1042, scheduled 8:10 a.m.) and Ryanair's Katowice flight (FR6372, 11:25 a.m.) were cancelled. A Ryanair connection to Modlin and an Enter Air charter to Katowice were also grounded. Later flights to Warsaw (Wizz Air, 4:55 p.m.), Krakow (Ryanair, 7:25 p.m.), and Wroclaw (Wizz Air, 10:55 p.m.) remained uncertain. On Sunday, an Enter Air plane from Warsaw was diverted to Palermo, with passengers bussed to Catania.

There are elderly people, disabled people, and children among us. We are receiving contradictory information and are confused.

Diversions and alternative airports

Palermo's Falcone-Borsellino Airport received 23 diverted flights from Catania by Monday morning and managed the extra load without major issues, handling 114 arrivals and 112 departures during the day. Airlines organized bus transfers from Palermo to Catania for affected passengers. Some flights were also redirected to the smaller airports in Comiso and Trapani, though this led to hours-long delays and information chaos. Travellers were urged to check with their airlines before heading to any airport.

Volcanic activity outlook

The lava flow that had been ongoing since June 26 ended on Saturday, but the volcano remains in a state of Strombolian activity, characterized by regular explosions of ash, gases, and rock fragments. Italian Civil Protection noted that lava typically stays at higher elevations and rarely threatens populated areas, but volcanic ash remains the primary hazard for aviation. Authorities advised against approaching the summit and suspended guided excursions to the upper slopes.