Help needed with Plan B due to Etna

Hi, Giangilberto from Milan, so I can give you some advice that mainly concerns transport.
The strikes starts again on the first of September because while August is a protected period, September is not, so there are already strikes scheduled right on the official website of the Ministry of Transport. There are no strikes on the 11th, but for example, there are strikes on Sunday, September 13th, a 24-hour national air strike, and also on September 7th and 8th a 24-hour national rail strike, so if you were to calculate plan Bs, these are absolutely days to avoid.
Another thing right now, right in these days, for example, Etna is erupting a lot. A new eruptive vent has even formed at the base of the north face where the Valle del Bove is.
We are at about 2000 meters above sea level. Intense explosive activity continues with the emission of a lot of ash.
The biggest problem is usually not so much the eruptions that remain a problem but all the ash that falls after the eruption.
At the moment it is falling on the southern face, so your plan, for example, going to Giardini Naxos or Taormina would not be affected because they are located on the opposite side of Etna.
You can consult all the official bulletins and the latest updates on volcanic activity on the official website of the INGV (National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology) Catania section.
Thirteen updates have been released in two days. Below is the official link:

https://www.ct.ingv.it/

Thank you for that important information Giangilberto. Fortunately, I won’t be using trains on any of the days you listed.

If you were in my shoes, how would go about getting from Taormina to Bari?

The viable alternative is changing your itinerary and fly to BRI from PMO.

Flying out of CTA always entails the unpredictable risk that the airport may be closed due to the Etna eruptions. On average the airport is closed and the flights are canceled about 10-15 days a year, but it is impossible to predict when and for how long.

I completely agree with Roberto, you could do Palermo - Brindisi.
It's a very unpredictable and always evolving situation, and it's very difficult to predict what the volcano will do, there could be nothing and flat calm like violent eruptions that could close the Catania airport.

Thank you all for your help, it means a lot. I’m going to call the airline to find out how they’ve been rerouting current passengers that haven’t been able to fly out of CTA.

I’ll probably just take a bus from Taormina to PMO and fly out from there.

I am surprised you are concerned about your flight when it isn't until Sept 11. Maybe I am ignorant but I would assume that Etna will not be erupting a month from now. I arrive at PMO on Sept 18 and fly out of Catania on October 3. It hasn't even crossed my mind that there will still be issues then with the volcano.

I also was not concerned not long ago when Etna started to erupt. But here we are a few weeks away from my travel dates and I prefer to know what my backup plans are now versus wasting time during my vacation trying to figure it out. Some of us like to plan ahead. Also, it’s not like there are any other super close airports to fly out of as an alternative (PMO is not a hop and skip away).

Renee - I disagree with you. If I were in the Gabriel's shoes, I would also be looking at options and going with knowledge and ideas on what to do if needed.

I don't have anything to share except, good luck! I hope you don't encounter any issues. And reading this thread I also learned about the site with strikes.

After speaking to a friend in Sicily, he recommended I don’t change my plans, which is better for me because I was having a hard time juggling my current itinerary.

So, as a back up, I think I’ll just buy a SAIS Trasporti bus ticket from Giardini-Naxos to Bari. The only problem I’m having is that when I try to buy the ticket online I keep getting an error message.

I don’t know if you’ve been reading the headlines in Italy today. Check, it’s front page news in all Italian newspaper today.

CTA has been closed since August 9, and there is total mayhem with flights from/to Sicily. Flights have been diverted while airborne to Palermo, Comiso, Lamezia Terme (Calabria). Prices from Paris to Palermo skyrocketed to 600-700 euro. Many decided to take the hydrofoil from Pozzallo to Malta because it was cheaper to fly from there. I wouldn’t want to risk to find myself in that mess, I think it’s safer if you book your flight from Palermo now, rather than having to find alternatives at the last minute. Mt. Etna is unpredictable, and it’s not that a volcano says Im not going to erupt in September since I’ve already erupted in August this year. Active volcanoes do what they want when they want.

Hi Roberto, yeah I’m not taking any chances. I was able to buy a bus ticket to Bari with SAIS Trasporti after all. Seems like the website is buggy at times, but I was finally able to buy a ticket online. It was a €60 ticket, but I’ll think of it as insurance if I don’t have to use it.

I'm glad you found the "plan B".
Catania airport has been closed for a week and they don't expect to reopen it before Aug. 17 after an initial estimate of Aug 14.
https://www.ilgiornale.it/news/nazionale/etna-in-eruzione-aeroporto-di-catania-chiuso-fino-al-14-agosto-potenziati-treni-e-autobus-cosa-sapere/

Not a coincidence that Vulcan was the God of Fire in ancient Rome.