Palermo Airport in Sicily limits flights after raging wildfires force temporary closure

Palermo Airport in Italy is limiting the number of departing flights as raging wildfires spread across Italy.

The airport, which is based on the island of Sicily, was forced to announce a temporary closure on Monday night (24 July) as fires burned around its perimeter.

The blaze started above the town of Cinisi before reaching the edge of the airport, forcing it to remain shut until 0900 GMT (10am BST) on Tuesday (25 July) to allow firefighters to put out fires which were also disrupting local road and rail traffic.

The airport has since announced in an update on Twitter that it has reopened, but warned that operations will be limited as weather conditions are monitored.

It said: “The aeroporto in Palermo has reopened: at the moment only a limited number of departing flights will be allowed. For arrivals, weather conditions are being monitored.”

The incident came a week after Sicily’s main airport of Catania - Italy’s fifth largest - was closed due to a fire in its Terminal A building. The damage caused by the blaze meant urgent repair work needed to be carried out, causing disruption to flights. The airport has since reopened but flights to and from the airport are likely to be affected over the coming weeks.

The fire prompted the UK Foreign Office to issue an alert for holidaymakers travelling to Italy, with passengers advised to contact their travel operator regarding flight details. It said: “Due to a fire in the airport terminal, Catania airport is operating a limited number of flights. You should contact your travel operator for details of cancelled or diverted flights.”

It comes as southern Italy has been sweltering through weeks of extreme heat, with temperatures reaching the high 30Cs and mid-40Cs. In some parts of eastern Sicily temperatures rose to a sweltering 47.6C on Monday, almost surpassing Europe’s record of 48.8C set in August 2021.

The temperature not only sparked a wind-fed brush fire to burn near Palermo, but it also caused several other blazes on the Mediterranean island, including near the tourist resort of Cefalu. Wildfires also broke out in Calabria in southwest Italy, including in the rugged Aspromonte mountains.

On Sardinia, three flights from Milan, Paris and Amsterdam were forced to land at other airports on the Italian island because the tarmac in Olbia was deemed dangerously hot on Monday afternoon, RAI state TV said, with the temperature reaching a sizzling 47C.

Sixteen cities in Italy were issued with red alerts by the Italian government earlier this month due to extreme temperatures, including Palermo, Cagliari, Rome, Florence and Bologna. People are urged to avoid direct sunlight between 11am and 6pm and to take particular care of the elderly and vulnerable.

Elsewhere, an overnight storm in Milan tore off roofs and uprooted trees, leaving roads blocked and causing disruption to overground transportation in Italy’s financial capital.

In the north of the country in the provinces of Monza and Brescia, two women were killed in separate incidents on Monday and Tuesday after being crushed by falling trees.