Etna's ash closure ripples through summer freight routes

Ash spewing from Sicily's Mount Etna has closed the island's largest airport for the fifth consecutive day, stranding hundreds of summer holiday travellers during the busiest travel week of the year, according to France 24. Catania's airport will remain closed until early August 15, with flights suspended until at least Saturday afternoon, Al Jazeera reported, leaving tens of thousands of travellers' plans disrupted in the past week.

For Liguria, the closure is more than a Sicilian inconvenience. The port of Genoa, which handles a significant share of Italy's container traffic, competes with southern ports for transhipment business, and any disruption to Sicily's air links forces a re-routing of cargo and passengers that tests the resilience of the national logistics network. The ash cloud, which has also reached Calabria, according to earlier reports, is a reminder of how a single natural event can ripple through the country's transport system.