Etna eruption halts Catania flights as ash grounds peak-season travel

Sicily's Catania airport has suspended flights again as Mount Etna continues to spew lava and volcanic ash, according to Deutsche Welle. The eruption has disrupted travel during the peak summer holiday season, stranding passengers at one of southern Italy's busiest gateways.

The suspension comes a day after a US tourist was killed by lightning on Etna while hiking in a restricted area, as reported by the Guardian and CBS News. The volcano's renewed activity adds a further layer of disruption to a summer already marked by wildfires and heatwaves across Europe, with France 24 reporting thousands evacuated from blazes in several countries.

For Sicily, the airport closure is more than an inconvenience. Catania's airport is the island's principal link to the mainland and the rest of Europe, and its repeated closures during eruptions have become a recurring feature of life on an island that sits at the foot of one of the world's most active volcanoes.

Mount Etna, Europe's tallest active volcano, has a long history of disrupting air travel. Its ash clouds can drift across the flight paths of Catania's airport, forcing closures that ripple through the island's tourism-dependent economy. The current eruption, reported by Deutsche Welle, comes during the busiest weeks of the tourist season, when the island's beaches and towns draw visitors from across Europe and beyond.

The lightning death of the American hiker on Sunday has already focused attention on the risks of volcano tourism, as the New York Times and the Guardian reported. The man, 29, was found in serious condition on the volcano's eastern slope and later pronounced dead at a hospital in Catania. Firefighters said he was hiking in an area closed to visitors due to recent volcanic activity.

The twin events — the eruption and the fatality — underscore the volatile nature of Etna, a mountain that is both a scientific laboratory and a tourist attraction. The volcano's eruptions are frequent but rarely deadly, yet the combination of ash, lightning and restricted zones creates hazards that authorities struggle to communicate to visitors, particularly during peak season.

For Sicilians, the airport closure is a familiar rhythm. The island has learned to live with Etna's moods, but each eruption carries an economic cost. With flights suspended, travellers face rebooking delays, and the island's hospitality sector, already strained by a summer of extreme heat, must absorb another blow. The European Forest Institute, cited by France 24, has warned that climate stress is making southern Europe's landscapes more fire-prone and volatile, and Etna's ashfalls add a further layer of uncertainty to the region's summer.