Air passengers have suffered a new blow as a major airport was closed as nearby volcano Mount Etna erupted. Plumes of smoke have been sent more than 10km into the air and Catania Airport cancelled all flights as the runway was covered in debris and ash. It’s a new blow for holidaymakers who yesterday were told that easyJet has been forced to cancel 232 flights to and from Portugal over the next few days due to a cabin crew strike.
Also today Jet2 said flights were being delayed by air traffic control issues. Ryanair said the same problem had caused more than 100 early flights to be delayed today. After the Etna eruption in Sicily nearby towns were covered in black volcanic ash.
It is estimated flights will resume at around 6pm, but this has yet to be confirmed. British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair are among a number of airlines forced to cancel flights to and from Catania this morning. This latest disruption, the third in two months, has occurred as Italy celebrates its busiest national public holiday, Ferragosto.
In a statement this morning (August 15) Ryanair apologised to passengers for the air-traffic control chaos which it said was down to ‘staff shortages’ and ‘affecting all European airlines’. A spokesman said: “ATC services, which have had the benefit of no French ATC strike disruption this summer, continue to underperform (despite flight volumes being 5% behind 2019 levels) with repeated “staff shortages”. On Thu 15 Aug, 17% of Ryanair’s first wave .