Volcano eruption causes flight cancellations in Mexico City

Popocatépetl, an active volcano in central Mexico, started spewing ash and smoke on Tuesday, leading to flights cancellations to and from the Mexico City International Airport Benito Juárez.

On Wednesday morning, the airport informed 22 domestic and international flights has been cancelled due to the ash found on aircraft during safety checks. “Management personnel and specialized teams remain on alert and are evaluating the ash fall conditions”, the airport wrote on X.

On Wednesday morning, the ash cloud was heading away from the city and towards the Gulf of Mexico, however, according to Mexico’s National Center for Disaster Prevention (CENACOM), the eruption is not yet over. On the evening of 27 February, the centre had recorded 77 discharges from Popocatépetl and 952 minutes of seismic tremors as well as a volcano tectonic earthquake in the previous 24 hours.

The previous day, before the ash cloud grew and started heading towards Mexico City, 61 discharges and 933 minutes of seismic activity were recorded. CENACOM issues a Level 2 threat warning, closing off an area of 12 km around the crater.

The volcano sits between the states of Puebla, Morelos and Mexico and ash fall from the eruption has been reported in municipalities across the states of Morelos, Tlaxcala and Mexico and in several neighbourhoods in Mexico City. So far, no evacuations have been prompted, CENACOM saying there is no “risk for the population”.

Popocatépetl, Mexico’s second highest peak, had been dormant for decades until it erupted in 1994. Since then, tremors have become a daily occurrence for the 25 million people living in proximity of the volcano. In 2019, Popocatépetl erupted 14 times in one night, cancelling hundreds of flights and prompting evacuation preparations, but seismic activity slowed down before people left their homes.