Airports in Sicily – including Catania and Comiso – have been forced to temporarily shut following Mount Etna erupting on Sunday night, causing widespread tourist disruption with flights cancelled, delayed and diverted.
The number of flights affected is set to pass the 50 mark today.
Catania Airport said it was closing down operations until at least 8pm today.
Ryanair, EasyJet and ITA flights have already been affected, with Ryanair warning passengers of possible delays, diversions and cancellations.
Catania is second only to Palermo in terms of airport size in Sicily, handling around 200 flights per day.
