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.
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.
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.
9月15日 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) is given only by 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 moving 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
Last frame of each station. Tap a picture to open it full size; reload the page for the latest frame.
Pictures and live stream: INGV Osservatorio Etneo, volcanic video surveillance, CC BY 4.0 licence · INGV ↗
Other public cameras
Video live streams from those who work on the mountain. They open on their own site.
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.
ash advisories VAAC · ■ closure announced by the airport · ■ ash in the air
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.
Today, cancelled and diverted
Last reading: 9月15日 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.
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 position of the van. Tap “Call” or “Ask for a seat”.
No run published right now.
Shared shuttles: on ash days operators put vans with single seats on the road from Palermo and Comiso, 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.
Refunds and compensation → airline, credit cards, insurance, packages: what you are owed, how to claim, what to expect
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 9月15日 09:44.