At least two incoming flights had to be diverted, aviation sources said, before it reopened around midday local time after winds changed direction and sent ash away from the facility.

In addition, a road that connects southern and central Guatemala was closed as a precaution, said Carlos Aquino, a spokesman for the highway police. It reopened on Sunday afternoon as the volcano’s activity subsided.

The volcano sits about 16km from Antigua, the country’s picturesque former capital and biggest tourist attraction.

Chile’s Lascar volcano stirs, sending plume of smoke into the sky

Fuego erupts every four to five years on average. In 2018, an eruption sent rivers of lava pouring down its sides, devastating the village of San Miguel Los Lotes, killing 215 people and leaving a similar number missing.

Authorities are monitoring the latest eruption closely, and so far no one has been evacuated, said Rodolfo Garcia, a civil protection spokesman.

“With what happened in 2018, now the authorities are already more alert and more active,” said Jose Sul, another resident of Alotenango.

Locals saw a sudden expulsion of lava on Saturday night that reddened the sky. “People here are used to experiencing this, and they look at it as normal,” Demetrio Pamal, a 28-year-old Indigenous Mayan farmer, told Agence France-Presse.

Many local families have a backpack ready with food, water, a flashlight and medicine so they can evacuate for up to three days at the drop of a hat.

Guatemala has two other active volcanoes – Santiaguito in the west of the country and Pacaya in the south.

Fuego also adjoins the inactive Acatenango volcano – at 3,500 metres.

Unlike South America’s Andean volcanoes, Guatemala’s are not snow-capped because of Central America’s warmer climate.

Central America has more than 100 volcanoes, many of which are wildly popular tourist attractions, even though they occasionally cause death and destruction.