Ryanair is diverting flights from Trapani airport in Sicily today due to military operations in Libya.
The airport, on the western tip of Sicily, doubles as a military base. It is located about 350 miles from the westernmost point of Libya.
Ryanair said Trapani would be closed to civilian traffic indefinitely from today and that it would divert its flights to Palermo. It said 28 flights would be affected today.
The move marked the first reported direct impact from the Libyan conflict on airline operations outside the country.
Eurocontrol, the European air traffic control centre, said last week it was no longer accepting requests to fly through Libyan airspace after the United Nations Security Council backed a no-fly zone over the North African country.
Agencies