Flights cancelled at Italian airport after Mount Etna eruption

All flights to and from a Sicilian airport are cancelled on Monday morning following the eruption of Mount Etna, with the volcano sending towering plumes of ash into the sky.

Catania airport, the busiest aviation hub on the Italian island of Sicily, has suspended all flights arriving and departing until 2pm on Monday, 6 July.

The airport made the announcement following dozens of diversions and cancellations of many of its scheduled flights after volcanic activity overnight between Sunday and Monday.

Italy’s Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation (VONA) issued a red alert level after Etna erupted an ash cloud just after 6am on Sunday, maintaining the same alert as another ash cloud was observed at 3am on Monday, reaching a height of 4,500m.

Passengers have been asked not to travel to the airport unless they have first checked the status of their flight with their airline.

All inbound flights to the airport were cancelled first on Sunday after the airspace over the ash cloud was closed; departing flights were allowed to take off until the announcement suspending all flights on Monday morning.

Palermo airport, the island's other major hub located on the northwest coast, has not been disrupted by Etna's ash cloud and has received many diverted flights that were due to land at Catania.

Palermo airport said it handled 33 more flights than usual on Sunday, and will receive a further 17 throughout Monday.

Other flights have also been diverted to the small Sicilian airports of Cosimo and Trapani, as well as Rome and Vienna.

Catania serves some of Europe’s largest airlines, many of which have seen diversions or cancellations amid the volcanic activity from nearby Etna, located only 29 miles away by road.

Cancelled flights due to arrive and depart from Catania on Sunday and Monday include those operated by easyJet, Ryanair, Jet2, British Airways, Wizz Air, Iberia, Lufthansa, KLM, ITA Airways, SAS and Air France.

Most of those cancelled served European destinations, but there were some transatlantic flights also affected, such as a Delta Air Lines flight to New York and an Air Canada flight to Montreal.

Some flights that are due to depart Monday afternoon have already been estimated to leave hours after their scheduled departure. Others hope to keep to allotted times.

If your flight is cancelled, under UK law, your airline must provide you with accommodation and meals (often in the form of vouchers) until it is able to fly you to your destination, or you can request a refund.

Compensation is unlikely if the cancellation was not the airline's fault, such as extreme natural events like volcanic eruptions.

Read more: Mount Etna erupts as lava pours from Europe’s most active volcano