MILAN (AP) 鈥� Ash spewing from has forced the closure of the island鈥檚 largest airport for the fifth consecutive day, stranding hundreds of summer holiday travelers during the busiest travel week of the year.
Catania鈥檚 airport will remain closed until early Saturday, which falls on the Ferragosto holiday that marks the height of the Italian summer holiday season when millions flock to the sea and mountains, deserting Italian cities.
While Etna鈥檚 activity often interrupts flights at the airport, located 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of the volcano, this is the longest emergency since 2002.
鈥淰olcanic ash can be a great risk for aircraft,鈥� said Boris Behncke, a researcher at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology鈥檚 Etna Observatory. 鈥淚t can be sucked into the motors, and force them to stall. This is why everyone is so very cautious with aircraft when there is a volcanic ash emission.鈥�
Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe. The latest activity has been unusual for its persistence and sustained ash emissions. Northerly winds have spread light amounts of ash to Malta and northern Africa.
鈥淭here have been many shorter interruptions 鈥� and stronger eruptions 鈥� over the past few decades, but this event is different because the ash emission from Etna鈥檚 summit has been much more persistent,鈥� Behncke said.
The closure has forced planes to be rerouted to other airports on the island, which has pushed up taxi fares and car rental prices, according to the Corriere della Sera daily. The Codacons consumer association has announced it will file a complaint with Italy鈥檚 competition authority following complaints about price gouging.
The SAC airport operator said 36% of nearly 2,000 flights scheduled to arrive in Catania from Aug. 6-12 had been canceled, while more than 600 were diverted to Palermo, Trapani and Comiso in Sicily and Lamezia Terme in Calabria. Flights were able to depart Catania over the weekend, but the airport was officially closed to both incoming and outgoing flights Monday. also was briefly closed.
The Italian train company Trenitalia has added six trains along the Palermo-Messina-Catania route to help ease the travel pressure.
Italy’s federation of travel agencies and tour operators has called for a task force to coordinate responses to disruptions caused by Mount Etna and said it would ask for a review of how airlines handled the cancellations and passenger assistance.
鈥淥perators are working around the clock to provide assistance, cancellations and alternative travel arrangements, but they cannot bear the burden of structural shortcomings and the management responsibilities of others,” FIAVET President Gian Mario Pilieri said in a statement.
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