Mexico City's Benito Juarez International Airport suspended flights for a few hours on Saturday, May 20 due to renewed activity at the Popocatépetl volcano, located about 70 kilometers from the Mexican capital. "We resumed take-off and landing operations from 10:00 am (18 pm in Paris)," the airport said on Facebook, adding that it had removed from the runways the ash of the volcano that had accumulated there. The airport, which in 2022 welcomed 46.2 million passengers, had suspended flights at 4:25 am local (12:25 pm in Paris).
The other Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA), inaugurated in 2022 in the greater suburbs of Mexico City, had also announced its temporary closure. Popocatépetl is monitored 24 hours a day, 24 days a year, because of the risk its activity poses to surrounding populations. It emitted fumaroles and incandescent materials in the night of Friday and until early Saturday morning, according to the Mexican Civil Protection.
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With 5452 meters above sea level, it is the second highest volcano in Mexico. It regularly expels columns of smoke and ash, which can be up to 10 kilometers high.