For the second day in a row, Sicily’s main air-hub has ground to a halt. SAC, the company that manages Catania “Vincenzo Bellini” Airport, extended the closure of the runway environment and the overlying C1 air sector until 23:59 on Sunday 27 September after renewed emissions of volcanic ash from Mount Etna. The decision, announced shortly before 10 a.m., follows a 24-hour period in which operations were gradually reduced from ten landings an hour to zero. Airlines have been told to divert or cancel services; most have rerouted toward Palermo, Trapani or Comiso, but seat availability is tight and re-accommodation queues are long. SAC has urged passengers to check flight status before travelling, yet terminal buildings were still crowded with travellers seeking assistance. Catania is Italy’s fifth-busiest airport and the primary gateway for the island’s €15-billion tourism industry. Industry group Assaeroporti estimates that a single day of closure disrupts roughly 30,000 passenger movements and €3 million in airline revenue. Hoteliers and tour operators warn that cancellations could ripple into the critical October shoulder season when many corporate meetings and incentive events are scheduled in eastern Sicily. From a mobility-risk perspective, employers with personnel in Sicily should activate contingency plans: rerouting through Palermo (PMO) or Malta (MLA), booking surface transport to Messina for onward rail connections, and confirming travel-insurance coverage for “natural hazard” disruptions. Travellers with tight Schengen overstays should remember that forced diversions within Italy do not affect admissibility, but missed outbound flights from the EU could. If the ash plume persists, Eurocontrol may impose flow restrictions on routes across the central Mediterranean, with knock-on delays at Rome Fiumicino and Naples Capodichino. SAC and ENAC, Italy’s civil-aviation authority, will hold a review at 18:00 local time; partial re-opening on Monday depends on wind direction and ash fall tests. Companies should monitor NOTAMs LIMM A2392/26 and LIMM A2393/26 and register travellers on their preferred alerting platforms.
Source: la Repubblica
