Catania–Fontanarossa Airport

Catania–Fontanarossa Airport
Aeroporto di Catania-Fontanarossa
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator SAC
Location Catania
Focus city for
Elevation AMSL 39 ft / 12 m
Coordinates 37°28′00″N 15°03′50″E / 37.46667°N 15.06389°E / 37.46667; 15.06389 (Catania Vincenzo Bellini Airport)Coordinates: 37°28′00″N 15°03′50″E / 37.46667°N 15.06389°E / 37.46667; 15.06389 (Catania Vincenzo Bellini Airport)
Website aeroporto.catania.it
Map
CTA
Location within Sicily
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
08/26 2,560 7,989 Asphalt
Statistics (2017)
Passengers 9,120,913
Passenger change 2016– 2017 Increase 15.2%
Aircraft movements 68,170
Movements change 2016–2017 Increase 11.6%
Source: Italian AIP at EUROCONTROL[1]
Statistics from Assaeroporti[2]

Catania–Fontanarossa Airport (Italian: aeroporto internazionale Vincenzo Bellini di Catania-Fontanarossa, English: Catania International Airport) (IATA: CTA, ICAO: LICC) also named 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.

It is the busiest airport in Sicily and the 6th busiest in Italy with 9.120.913 passengers in 2017.[2] 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 very 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.[3]

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 6 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.[4]

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 France Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Air Italy Milan–Malpensa
Air Malta London–Southend, Malta, Vienna
airBaltic Seasonal: Riga
Alitalia Bologna, Milan–Linate, Naples, Rome–Fiumicino, Venice
Seasonal: Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Saint Petersburg,[5] Turin, Verona
Austrian Airlines Seasonal: Vienna
Blue Air Bucharest, Turin
Seasonal: Bacău
British Airways Seasonal: London–Gatwick
Brussels Airlines Seasonal: Brussels
Condor Seasonal: Düsseldorf[6]
Corendon Dutch Airlines Seasonal: Maastricht/Aachen
DAT Lampedusa
Seasonal: Pantelleria
easyJet Berlin–Tegel, London–Gatwick, London–Luton, Manchester, Milan–Malpensa, Naples, Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Seasonal: Amsterdam, Berlin–Schönefeld, Bordeaux, Bristol, Lyon, Nice
easyJet Switzerland Basel/Mulhouse, Geneva
Edelweiss Air Zürich
Eurowings Düsseldorf
Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn, Hamburg, Hannover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart
Finnair Seasonal: Helsinki
Flydubai Dubai–International [7]
Helvetic Airways Seasonal: Bern
Iberia Seasonal: Madrid
I-Fly Seasonal charter: Moscow–Vnukovo
KLM Amsterdam[8]
Lufthansa Frankfurt, Munich
Luxair Seasonal: Luxembourg
Neos Seasonal: Tenerife–South
Norwegian Air Shuttle Seasonal: Copenhagen, London–Gatwick, Madrid, Oslo–Gardermoen, Stockholm–Arlanda
Ryanair Bergamo, Berlin–Schönefeld, Bologna, Eindhoven, Frankfurt,[9] Madrid, Milan–Malpensa, Pisa, Rome–Fiumicino, Treviso, Trieste, Turin
Seasonal: Cagliari,[10] Marseille
S7 Airlines Moscow–Domodedovo
SmartWings Seasonal: Prague
Swiss International Air Lines Seasonal: Geneva, Zürich
Transavia Seasonal: Amsterdam
Transavia France Nantes
Seasonal: Lyon, Paris–Orly
TUI Airways Seasonal: Birmingham, Bristol, London–Gatwick, Manchester
TUI fly Belgium Seasonal: Brussels
Turkish Airlines Istanbul–Atatürk
Ural Airlines Seasonal: Yekaterinburg[11]
Volotea Bari, Genoa, Pescara,[12] Venice–Marco Polo, Verona
Seasonal: Ancona, Cagliari, Naples,[13] Toulouse
Vueling Barcelona, Florence, Rome–Fiumicino
Wizz Air Bucharest, Budapest, Iași, Katowice, Vienna (begins 23 February 2019),[14] Warsaw–Chopin
Seasonal: Sofia[15]

Ground transportation

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 are also available direct from the airport.

See also

Other airports in Sicily:

References

  1. 1 2 EAD Basic
  2. 1 2 Associazione Italiana Gestori Aeroportuali
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ Ryanair Announce Comiso January 2013
  5. ↑ "Alitalia: new non-stop flight Rome-Kiev". finchannel.com. The FINANCIAL. 3 February 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  6. ↑ condor.com - individual timetable iteration retrieved 9 October 2017
  7. ↑ http://gulfbusiness.com/flydubai-begin-flights-krakow-catania-2018/
  8. ↑ http://www.luchtvaartnieuws.nl/nieuws/categorie/2/airlines/klm-pakt-prijsvechters-aan-op-zeven-nieuwe-routes-in-2017
  9. ↑ http://corporate.ryanair.com/news/nachrichten/170228-ryanair-stellt-winterflugplan-2017-2018-fur-frankfurt-am-main-vor/?market=de
  10. ↑ Ryanair expands Cagliari service in S17 Routesonline. 1 December 2016.
  11. ↑ Liu, Jim (17 January 2017). "Ural Airlines resumes Catania service in S17". Routesonline. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  12. ↑ Volotea schedules additional routes in S18 Routesonline. 6 April 2018.
  13. ↑ Volotea S17 New routes as of 14OCT16 Routesonline. 14 October 2016.
  14. ↑ "Wien: Wizzair kündigt neun weitere Strecken an". austrianaviation.net. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  15. ↑ https://money.bg/business/wizz-air-spira-poletite-do-8-destinatsii-ot-sofiya-i-varna.html

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