ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th July, 2023) The Palermo airport has been closed due to forest fires, with eight flights canceled, the airport administration said on Tuesday, recommending passengers not to go to the facility.
"For safety reasons, it is recommended not to go to the airport," the administration wrote on social media.
The airport is expected to resume operations at 11:00 a.m. local time (09:00 GMT), the administration said, adding that firefighters were working at the site.
Wildfires in the Palermo area have led to power outages and the evacuation of 120 families, as well as traffic disruptions due to road closures, Italian newspaper il Messaggero reported. A total of 43 fires broke out in Sicily on Monday and are being extinguished with the help of fire-fighting aircraft, the newspaper added.
The air traffic situation in Sicily is complicated by the consequences of the fire that occurred in one of the terminals of Catania airport on the night of July 17. The airport is not yet fully operational and flights have been diverted to neighboring airports, including Palermo. The operating company said that the fire-damaged Terminal A is still being cleaned and cleared, while 54 square meters (580 square feet) of street tents have been set up in the operating Terminal C for the convenience of passengers.
Wildfires have spread in southern Italy due to abnormally high temperatures caused by African anticyclone Charon. In Palermo in particular, a record high of +46.4�C (114.8�F) was recorded the previous day, surpassing the figures for 1999.
