Shafaqna English– Catania’s international airport — Sicily’s primary aviation gateway — officially reopened its runways to commercial traffic on Saturday(15 Aug 2026), confirming that flights had resumed. The move came in direct response to the authorities’ decision to downgrade the aviation color-code for Mount Etna from red to orange, signaling that the volcano’s recent emissions had subsided enough to allow safe air travel.
Over the course of the past seven days, copious amounts of volcanic ash spewed from Etna’s craters had compelled the Sicilian airport to either cancel altogether or divert elsewhere hundreds of incoming and outgoing passenger flights, creating widespread travel chaos for thousands of travelers.
Source: Reuters