San Francisco Frontiers - Flights slowly resume at Sicily's Catania airport as volcano erupts

The airport said it had reopened for departures on Friday afternoon after the runway was cleared, writing on X that "arrivals are temporarily limited to two per hour."

The airport asked travellers to check the status of their flights before heading to the airport.

Flights were suspended after ash plumes from the nearby active volcano of Mount Etna shot up into the sky Thursday as high as 4.5 kilometres, according to Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).

Footage shared on social media Friday showed the streets of Catania's city centre covered in thick layers of black ash, slowing down traffic.

The 3,324-metres-high (10,905 feet) volcano has erupted multiple times in recent decades.

Over the last few days, its crater had begun to spit fountains of scorching lava and releasing ash.

Italian authorities also issued a red warning for another volcano north of Sicily -- Stromboli on the island of the same name -- whose eruption created ash clouds.

Mount Stromboli -- culminating at 920 metres and with a base reaching 2,000 metres below sea level -- is known for being one of the only nearly constantly active volcanoes in the world, according to the INGV.

Millions of passengers transit through Catania airport every year, connecting them to eastern Sicily, among Italy's most popular tourist hotspots.

B.Johnson--SFF