Rome (dpa) – Catania Airport in Sicily was forced to close on Wednesday after Mount Etna erupted, covering the runway with volcanic ash, according to the airport.
No flights can take off or land in the morning, the airport said. The flight schedule showed numerous connections as delayed.
Mount Etna has erupted repeatedly in recent weeks but reports of major damage or injuries are rare. Occasionally, ash falls and windows sometimes break as the volcano rumbles during the eruptions.
Etna, which is 3,300 metres tall, has been spewing lava and ash in recent days, mainly from its south-eastern crater, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).
The institute has also registered occasional eruptions on the north-eastern side.
Plumes of ash rose five to 10 kilometres into the sky, measuring from sea level, according to a report by the institute.