Catania–Fontanarossa Airport

Catania–Fontanarossa Airport (Italian: Aeroporto Internazionale Vincenzo Bellini di Catania-Fontanarossa) (IATA: CTA, ICAO: LICC), also known as Vincenzo Bellini Airport, is an international airport 2.3 NM (4.3 km; 2.6 mi) southwest[1] of Catania, the second largest city on the Italian island of Sicily. It is named after the opera composer Vincenzo Bellini, who was born in Catania.

Catania–Fontanarossa Airport

Aeroporto di Catania-Fontanarossa
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorSAC
LocationCatania
Focus city for
Elevation AMSL39 ft / 12 m
Coordinates37°28′00″N 15°03′50″E
Websiteaeroporto.catania.it
Map
CTA
Location within Sicily
CTA
CTA (Italy)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
08/26 2,560 7,989 Asphalt
Statistics (2019)
Passengers10,223,113
Passenger change 2018– 2019 2.9%
Aircraft movements75,070
Movements change 2018–2019 2.1%
Source: Italian AIP at EUROCONTROL[1]
Statistics from Assaeroporti[2]

According to Assaeroporti, is the busiest airport in Sicily and the sixth busiest in Italy in 2019.[3] Major airlines such as Alitalia, Lufthansa and KLM offer services here and connect numerous European destinations such as Rome, Munich, Amsterdam and Berlin, while low-cost airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair offer flights to leisure destinations.

With nearly two million passengers carried in 2016, the Catania/Fontanarossa - Rome/Fiumicino route is Italy's busiest air route, and Europe's fourth busiest.

History

Early years

Catania Airport's history dates back to 1924, when it was the region's first airport. During World War II it was seized by the Allies during the Sicily Campaign and used by the United States Army Air Forces as a military airfield. Twelfth Air Force used the airport as a combat airfield, stationing the 340th Bombardment Group, which flew B-25 Mitchells from 27 August to 19 November 1943. In addition, the HQ, 51st Troop Carrier Wing used the airport from 29 September 1943 to 29 June 1944. Various transport units used the airport for the rest of the war, afterward it was turned back over to civil authorities.[4]

By the late 1940s, it was clear that the airport was fast running out of space and it was deemed necessary to relocate and in 1950, the new bigger and improved Catania Airport opened for business.

After 20 years of unexpected growth and high passengers levels, in 1981 it was once again necessary to restructure the airport to cope with demand.

Development since the 2000s

In order to cope with the increasing passengers figures, a new terminal, equipped with 22 gates and six loading bridges, opened on 8 May 2007 replacing the old facilities. The current "investment programme" has ensured that Catania Fontanarossa Airport continues to look forward and plan for growth over the next ten years, implementing a whole new infrastructure and making many additions, including a panoramic restaurant, a new airside runway and further office space.

Ryanair started flying to Catania in 2013, initially announcing only one route to Catania while also starting operations to Comiso Airport, a new airport which opened in 2013 and is located approximately 100 km from Catania, near the city of Ragusa.[5]

To cope with the fast passengers growth two additional terminals were opened in 2018 (Terminal B and C). Terminal C is used exclusively by easyJet.

Airlines and destinations
The airport's apron with the Etna volcano visible in the background
AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines Seasonal: Athens
Aer Lingus Seasonal: Dublin
Air Arabia Maroc Casablanca
Air Dolomiti Florence
Air France Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Air Malta Malta
Alitalia Bologna, Milan–Linate, Rome–Fiumicino
Austrian Airlines Seasonal: Vienna
Aviolet Seasonal charter: Belgrade[6]
Belavia Seasonal charter: Minsk
Blue Air Turin
British Airways Seasonal: London–Gatwick
Corendon Airlines Europe Seasonal: Hannover
Corendon Dutch Airlines Seasonal: Maastricht/Aachen
DAT Lampedusa
Seasonal: Olbia, Pantelleria
easyJet Berlin–Tegel, Bristol, London–Gatwick, London–Luton, Manchester, Milan–Malpensa, Naples, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Venice
Seasonal: Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Edinburgh, Lyon, Nantes, Nice, Toulouse
easyJet Switzerland Basel/Mulhouse, Geneva
Edelweiss Air Zürich
El Al Tel Aviv
Eurowings Düsseldorf
Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn, Hamburg, Stuttgart
Finnair Seasonal: Helsinki
Flydubai Dubai–International
Iberia Seasonal: Madrid
KLM Amsterdam
LOT Polish Airlines Seasonal: Warsaw–Chopin
Seasonal charter: Katowice[7]
Lufthansa Frankfurt, Munich
Luxair Seasonal: Luxembourg
Neos Seasonal: Bergamo, Milan–Malpensa, Verona
Norwegian Air Shuttle Seasonal: Copenhagen, Oslo–Gardermoen, Stockholm–Arlanda
Ryanair Athens, Bergamo, Berlin–Schönefeld, Bologna, Brussels, Budapest, Eindhoven, Frankfurt, Katowice, Kraków, Kyiv-Boryspil , Madrid, Malta, Marrakech, Marseille, Milan–Malpensa, Perugia, Pisa, Rome–Fiumicino, Seville, Treviso, Trieste, Turin, Vienna
Seasonal: Cagliari
S7 Airlines Moscow–Domodedovo
Smartwings Seasonal: Prague
Smartwings Slovakia Seasonal: Bratislava
Swiss International Air Lines Seasonal: Geneva, Zürich
Transavia Seasonal: Amsterdam
Transavia France Paris–Orly
TUI Airways Seasonal: Birmingham, Bristol, London–Gatwick, Manchester
TUI fly Belgium Seasonal: Brussels
Turkish Airlines Istanbul
Volotea Ancona, Bari, Genoa, Naples, Pescara, Venice, Verona, Turin
Seasonal: Toulouse
Vueling Barcelona, Florence
Seasonal: Valencia
Wizz Air Bacău (begins 30 October 2020),[8] Bucharest, Budapest, Dortmund ,[9] Iași, Katowice, Kraków, Kyiv-Zhulyany (begins 29 March 2021),[10] Lviv (begins 30 March 2021),[11] Sofia, Tirana,[12] Vienna, Warsaw–Chopin
Seasonal: Saint-Petersburg (begins 30 March 2021)[13]

Ground transportation

Train

A new train station, Catania-Aeroporto Fontanarossa, is currently under construction and due to open in June 2020. It will service regional train lines such as the Messina-Syracuse railway, the Catania-Palermo railway, as well as the Catania-Caltagirone railway. Catania-Aeroporto Fontanarossa rail station is part of Catania's suburban railway line. The station is situated between Bicocca and Catania-Acquicella stations.[14] A typical journey to and from Catania Central Station will take less than 10 minutes, and approximately one hour to and from Syracuse or Taormina train stations.[15]

Car

The airport is located close to the A19 motorway, which links Catania with Palermo and central Sicily, while the European route E45 runs to Syracuse in the south.

Bus

A shuttle bus service provides transport into Catania city centre and the Central Train Station, while scheduled bus services to other parts of the island[16] are also available direct from the airport.

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See also

Other airports in Sicily:

References
  1. "EAD Basic - Error Page". www.ead.eurocontrol.int. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  2. https://assaeroporti.com/wp-content/plugins/multipage_xls_reader/pdf_file/2019.pdf/
  3. "Home Assaeroporti | Associazione Italiana Gestori Aeroportuali". Assaeroporti (in Italian). Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  4. Maurer Maurer, ed. (1983). Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
  5. "Official Ryanair website - Cheap flights from Ireland - Ryanair". www.ryanair.com. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  6. http://www.aviolet.rs/Data/Files/Aviolet_charter_schedule_2019_en.pdf
  7. "LOT will make charter flights for Katowice from Rainbow Tours".
  8. https://boardingpass.ro/wizz-air-anunta-rute-spre-italia-belgia-germania-cipru-uk-si-danemarca/
  9. https://airlinergs.com/wizz-air-announces-a-new-base-in-dortmund/
  10. https://www.uvidpustku.com/wizz-air-ukraine-italy/
  11. https://www.uvidpustku.com/wizz-air-ukraine-italy/
  12. https://wizzair.com/#/
  13. https://ru.pirates.travel/bilety/wizzair-otkryvaet-novye-napravleniya-iz-spb-letim-v-bolonju-veneciju-milan-turin-i-kataniju-ot-3600-tuda-obratno/138454
  14. "Catania Airport Train Station".
  15. "Trenitalia time table".
  16. "Catania Airport Bus Transfers".

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