Safe point

Etna and flights

When Etna sends ash into the air, Catania airport closes one or more sectors of its airspace and flights are cancelled or diverted. Here are the official sources, read in real time, and what to do.

No closure in force according to the latest notice · sector B3 e C1 · Latest airport notice: 14. Sept., 20:28

ETNA UPDATE – 14 September, 7:30 PM

Due to the emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere, the closure of sectors B3 and C1 has been extended. Flight operations are suspended until 10:00 AM tomorrow, Tuesday, 15 September. Passengers are kindly advised to check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling to the airport. Further updates will follow.

SAC ↗

Ash in the air: the Toulouse VAAC advisory

Colour code: red

Eruption: ERUPTION AT 20260914/0240Z ERRUPTION PROBABLY ONGOING

ERRUPTION PROBABLY ONGOING WITH ASH PLUME DRIFTING SOUTHWARD AND QUICKLY DISSIPATING. DUE TO THE LOW INTENSITY OF THE EVENT QVA ARE NOT PROVIDED.

15. Sept., 06:00 · Next advisory: NO LATER THAN 20260915/1000Z= · VAAC ↗

The VAAC (Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre) tells pilots where the cloud is. Red = eruption with ash in the air; orange = activity with little or no ash; yellow and green = quiet.

Your flight, right now

The status of each flight (cancelled, diverted, delayed) comes only from the airport board: open it here, then confirm with the airline. A diverted flight usually lands at Palermo or Comiso and the airline arranges a bus; ask before setting off on your own.

Arrivals at Catania ↗ Departures from Catania ↗ Assistance at the airport ↗

Etna right now, from the cameras

Pictures tell you the situation before any notice does: whether there is an ash column, which way the wind carries it, whether the craters are under cloud. These are the public cameras of INGV and of the Etna facilities. INGV frames show UTC time: Rome is one hour ahead, two in summer time.

INGV live

Etna’s TV channel (EtnaTVChn), INGV Osservatorio Etneo · INGV ↗

INGV video-surveillance stations

Latest frame from each station. Tap a picture to open it full size; reload the page for the most recent one.

Pictures and live stream: INGV Osservatorio Etneo, volcanic video surveillance, CC BY 4.0 licence · INGV ↗

Other public cameras

Live streams from those who work on the mountain. They open on their own sites.

Funivia dell’Etna: 2,500 m station, Montagnola, Piano Provenzanafuniviaetna.com↗ Piazzale Rifugio Sapienza (south side, 1,900 m)Skyline Webcams↗ Summit craters from the top station of the cable carSkyline Webcams↗ Etna from the south sideSkyline Webcams↗ Piano Provenzana (north side, 1,800 m)Skyline Webcams↗ Etna from MascaluciaSkyline Webcams↗ South-east sideSkyline Webcams↗

The last 14 days

For each day: how many ash advisories the VAAC issued and what the airport announced. A day without notices is a quiet day.

2/9·

3/9·

4/9·

5/9·

6/9·

7/9·

8/9·

9/94

10/94

11/95

12/9·

13/9·

14/963 SAC

15/91

ash advisories VAAC · ■ closure announced by the airport · ■ ash in the air

14. Sept., 20:28ETNA UPDATE – 14 September, 7:30 PM — Due to the emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere, the closure of sectors B3 and C1 has been extended. Flight operations are suspended until 10:00 AM tomorrow, Tuesday, 15 September. Passengers are kindly advised t… ↗

14. Sept., 13:46ETNA ERUPTION UPDATE – 14 SEPTEMBER — Due to Mount Etna’s eruptive activity, the airspace corresponding to sectors C1 and B3 has been closed. Arrivals and departures at Catania Airport are suspended until 10:00 PM local time. Passengers are kindly requested … ↗

14. Sept., 09:30ETNA ERUPTION – UPDATE 14 SEPTEMBER — Following today’s volcanic activity, Monday, 14 September, the C1 sector has been closed, resulting in the suspension of arrivals until 4:00 p.m. local time. Passengers are kindly requested to check the status of their f… ↗

Cancelled and diverted flights at Catania

All scheduled arrivals and departures, read every half hour from AeroDataBox. For each day: how many there were, how many cancelled, diverted, delayed.

137flights

51cancelled

12diverted

4delayed

cancelleddiverteddelayedon time

Today, cancelled and diverted

00:25 cancelled FR 376 Ryanair✈ arrival from Cagliari (CAG)

00:40 diverted FR 2726 Ryanair✈ arrival from Kraków (KRK) landed elsewhere (usually Palermo): check the airport board

00:55 cancelled W4 5063 Wizz Air Malta✈ arrival from Tirana (TIA)

01:00 cancelled LY 5426 El Al✈ departure to Tel Aviv Yafo (TLV)

01:15 cancelled FR 3729 Ryanair✈ arrival from Milan (MXP)

06:00 cancelled VL 1905 Lufthansa City✈ departure to Munich (MUC)

06:00 cancelled W4 6507 Wizz Air Malta✈ departure to Bologna (BLQ)

06:00 cancelled AZ 1722 ITA✈ departure to Rome (FCO)

06:05 cancelled FR 3750 Ryanair✈ departure to Bologna (BLQ)

06:15 cancelled W4 6533 Wizz Air Malta✈ departure to Prague (PRG)

06:15 cancelled W4 6525 Wizz Air Malta✈ departure to Torino (TRN)

06:25 cancelled FR 1075 Ryanair✈ departure to Venice (VCE)

06:35 cancelled FR 367 Ryanair✈ arrival from Luqa (MLA)

06:45 cancelled AZ 1742 ITA✈ departure to Milan (LIN)

06:50 cancelled FR 4871 Ryanair✈ departure to Rome (FCO)

06:55 cancelled XZ 2810 Fly Air41✈ departure to Rome (FCO)

07:00 cancelled FR 368 Ryanair✈ departure to Luqa (MLA)

07:05 cancelled AZ 1736 ITA✈ departure to Rome (FCO)

07:15 cancelled FR 4314 Ryanair✈ arrival from Nápoli (NAP)

07:20 cancelled FR 3736 Ryanair✈ departure to Milan (MXP)

07:40 cancelled W6 1957 Wizz Air✈ arrival from Vilnius (VNO)

07:40 cancelled FR 4313 Ryanair✈ departure to Nápoli (NAP)

07:50 diverted FR 6204 Ryanair✈ arrival from Pisa (PSA) landed elsewhere (usually Palermo): check the airport board

07:50 diverted V7 1421 Volotea✈ arrival from Olbia (OLB) diverted to Comiso at 10:00

07:50 cancelled FR 2261 Ryanair✈ arrival from Bergamo (BGY)

07:55 diverted FR 1170 Ryanair✈ arrival from Rome (FCO) landed elsewhere (usually Palermo): check the airport board

07:55 diverted DL 244 Delta Air Lines✈ arrival from New York (JFK) landed elsewhere (usually Palermo): check the airport board

07:55 cancelled AZ 1728 ITA✈ departure to Rome (FCO)

08:00 cancelled AZ 1728 ITA✈ departure to Rome (FCO)

08:05 cancelled W6 1041 Wizz Air✈ arrival from Katowice (KTW)

08:05 cancelled FR 324 Ryanair✈ arrival from Bucharest (OTP)

08:15 cancelled FR 2262 Ryanair✈ departure to Bergamo (BGY)

08:15 cancelled W6 1958 Wizz Air✈ departure to Vilnius (VNO)

08:30 cancelled FR 323 Ryanair✈ departure to Bucharest (OTP)

08:40 diverted FR 5440 Ryanair✈ arrival from Warsaw (WMI) landed elsewhere (usually Palermo): check the airport board

08:45 cancelled W6 1042 Wizz Air✈ departure to Katowice (KTW)

09:10 diverted FR 8707 Ryanair✈ arrival from Kraków (KRK) landed elsewhere (usually Palermo): check the airport board

09:10 cancelled AZ 1746 ITA✈ arrival from Milan (LIN)

09:20 cancelled FR 2920 Ryanair✈ arrival from Luqa (MLA)

09:25 cancelled U2 4407 easyJet✈ arrival from Lyon (LYS)

09:30 cancelled AZ 1709 ITA✈ arrival from Rome (FCO)

09:40 cancelled AY 1805 Finnair✈ arrival from Helsinki (HEL)

09:45 cancelled FR 1019 Ryanair✈ arrival from Torino (TRN)

09:55 cancelled DL 245 Delta Air Lines✈ departure to New York (JFK)

09:55 cancelled AZ 1747 ITA✈ departure to Milan (LIN)

10:00 diverted U2 8285 easyJet✈ arrival from London (LGW) landed elsewhere (usually Palermo): check the airport board

10:05 cancelled W4 6508 Wizz Air Malta✈ arrival from Bologna (BLQ)

10:05 cancelled FR 2919 Ryanair✈ departure to Luqa (MLA)

10:15 cancelled AZ 1710 ITA✈ departure to Rome (FCO)

10:30 cancelled AY 1806 Finnair✈ departure to Helsinki (HEL)

10:35 cancelled U2 8286 easyJet✈ departure to London (LGW)

10:45 diverted XZ 2811 Fly Air41✈ arrival from Rome (FCO) landed elsewhere (usually Palermo): check the airport board

11:00 diverted VL 1906 Lufthansa City✈ arrival from Munich (MUC) landed elsewhere (usually Palermo): check the airport board

11:10 cancelled FR 5058 Ryanair✈ departure to London (STN)

11:15 cancelled FR 4852 Ryanair✈ arrival from Rome (FCO)

11:20 cancelled IB 693 Iberia✈ arrival from Madrid (MAD)

11:20 cancelled VY 5389 Vueling✈ arrival from Madrid (MAD)

11:40 cancelled AZ 1724 ITA✈ departure to Rome (FCO)

11:50 cancelled FR 4851 Ryanair✈ departure to Rome (FCO)

12:00 cancelled IB 694 Iberia✈ departure to Madrid (MAD)

13:05 diverted W4 6513 Wizz Air Malta✈ arrival from Venice (VCE) landed elsewhere (usually Palermo): check the airport board

13:05 cancelled EW 9814 Eurowings✈ arrival from Düsseldorf (DUS)

15:00 diverted W4 6552 Wizz Air Malta✈ arrival from Verona (VRN) landed elsewhere (usually Palermo): check the airport board

Last reading: 15. Sept., 09:40 · AeroDataBox

If Catania is closed: the other airports

Palermo and Comiso almost always stay open (ash goes where the wind takes it, and Comiso is to the south). From there you reach your destination by car with a licensed operator: these are the routes, who drives them and for how much.

Palermo airport → Catania243 km · 3 Std. 23→Comiso airport → Catania95 km · 1 Std. 39→Palermo airport → Taormina297 km · 3 Std. 59→Comiso airport → Taormina148 km · 2 Std. 14→Comiso airport → Syracuse91 km · 1 Std. 48→Trapani airport → Catania318 km · 4 Std. 08→

Shared shuttles available now

For each airport: the runs published by licensed drivers, with free seats, price per seat and, when the driver shares it, the van’s location. Tap “Call” or “Ask for a seat”.

No runs published right now.

Sammelshuttles →Transfers und Strecken

Shared shuttles: on ash days operators put vans on the road from Palermo and Comiso, with seats sold one by one at an affordable price. Published runs, with time and free seats, are on the shuttles page.

What you are entitled to (EU Regulation 261/2004)

With a cancelled flight you choose: a refund of the ticket or re-routing on the first available flight, even with another airline, even to another Sicilian airport.
While you wait, the airline must give you meals, drinks and, if needed, a hotel with transport, in proportion to the wait.
An eruption is an extraordinary circumstance: cash compensation (€250–600) usually does not apply. Refund and assistance always do.
Keep receipts and boarding passes; ask the airline in writing, not only at the desk.

Erstattungen und Entschädigungen → airline, credit cards, insurance, packages: what you are owed, how to claim, what to expect

INGV bulletins ↗Sicherheitspunkt Hilfe

Sources: SAC Società Aeroporto Catania notices (official site), VAAC Toulouse (Météo-France), INGV Etna Observatory. The page re-reads the sources every ten minutes; the time shown is the notice time. This is not an emergency service and does not replace the airline. Read at 15. Sept., 09:50.