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Catania airport in Sicily suspended operations on Saturday due to volcanic ash from Mount Etna alongside adverse weather, the operating authority confirmed.

Incoming flights at the facility, recognized as Italy's fifth-busiest hub for passenger traffic, remain grounded until 1000 GMT on Sunday.

While Mount Etna, Europe's highest and most active volcano, regularly affects local air travel, heightened ash emissions this summer have impacted thousands of travelers during the peak holiday season.

Flights at Catania airport were suspended on Sept. 14 because of the volcanic ash.

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Another closure a month earlier coincided with the Ferragosto holiday marking the height of the Italian summer season, when millions head to coastal and mountain destinations.

The closure lasted for five days, the longest emergency since 2022.

"Volcanic ash can be a great risk for aircraft," Boris Behncke, a researcher at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology’s Etna Observatory, previously said.

"It can be sucked into the motors, and force them to stall. This is why everyone is so very cautious with aircraft when there is a volcanic ash emission."

The most recent fatalities linked to an eruption on Europe's most active volcano happened nearly 40 years ago, in 1987.

Lightning strikes have killed more people on Etna in recent decades than volcanic activity, officials say.

An American tourist died in August after being struck by lightning on Mount Etna while hiking in an area closed to visitors due to volcanic activity, Italian firefighters said at the time.

The 29-year-old man from Kansas was rescued by helicopter after being hit and was later declared dead.

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