Catania–Fontanarossa Airport

Catania–Fontanarossa Airport
Aeroporto di Catania-Fontanarossa
IATA: CTA – ICAO: LICC
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 2,436 7,989 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 7,105,487
Passenger change 2014– 2015 Decrease -2.7%
Aircraft movements 54,988
Movements change 2014–2015 Decrease -8.2%
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 7.304.012 passengers in 2014.[2] Major airlines such as Alitalia, Lufthansa and Air Berlin offer services here and connect numerous European destinations such as Rome, Munich and Berlin, while low cost airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair offer extensive flights to many leisure destinations.

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 to fly to Catania in 2013 but announced only one route to Catania while also starting operations with 3 routes to Comiso Airport, a newly opened in 2013 airport located approximately 100 km from Catania, near the city of Ragusa.[4]

In August 2014, Air One announced the closure of its operations including the shutdown of its Catania base on 30 September 2014.[5]

Airlines and destinations

The airport's apron with the Etna volcano visible in the background
AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines
operated by Olympic Air 		Seasonal: Athens
Aer Lingus Seasonal: Dublin
Air Berlin Berlin–Tegel, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Zürich
Air Malta Malta
Aviolet
operated by Air Serbia		 Seasonal charter: Belgrade
Air VIA Seasonal charter: Munich
airBaltic Seasonal: Riga (begins 4 May 2017)[6]
AlbaStar Seasonal charter: Naples, Tenerife–South
Alitalia Bologna, Milan–Linate, Rome–Fiumicino
Seasonal: Moscow-Sheremetyevo, Venice[7]
Alitalia
operated by Alitalia CityLiner 		Seasonal: Verona[8]
Alitalia
operated by Darwin Airline 		Lampedusa, Naples
Austrian Airlines Seasonal: Vienna
Seasonal charter: Innsbruck
Belavia Seasonal charter: Minsk-National
Blue Air Bucharest, Turin
Seasonal: Bacău
British Airways Seasonal: London–Gatwick
Brussels Airlines Seasonal: Brussels
Bulgaria Air Seasonal charter: Sofia
easyJet Amsterdam,[9] London–Gatwick, London–Luton, Manchester, Milan–Malpensa, Naples, Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Seasonal: Berlin–Schönefeld, Bristol,[10] Hamburg, Lyon
easyJet Switzerland Geneva
Seasonal: Basel/Mulhouse
Edelweiss Air Zürich
Europe Airpost Seasonal charter: Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes
Eurowings Hamburg
Eurowings
operated by Germanwings 		Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart
Seasonal: Düsseldorf, Hannover
Finnair Seasonal: Helsinki
Germania Seasonal charter: Berlin–Schönefeld, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig/Halle, Rostock
Helvetic Airways Seasonal: Bern
HOP! Seasonal charter: Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Iberia Seasonal: Madrid
Seasonal charter: Valladolid
Iberia
operated by Air Nostrum 		Seasonal: Madrid
I-Fly Seasonal charter: Moscow–Vnukovo
Lufthansa Munich
Luxair Seasonal: Luxembourg
Meridiana Milan–Linate, Naples
Seasonal: Milan–Malpensa, Olbia
Mistral Air[11] Seasonal: Bergamo, Milan-Malpensa, Verona
Seasonal charter: Lourdes/Tarbes, Mostar, Sharm el-Sheikh, Sofia, Split, Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion
Neos Seasonal: Tenerife-South
Seasonal charter: Heraklion
Niki Seasonal: Vienna
Seasonal charter: Graz, Salzburg
Norwegian Air Shuttle Seasonal: Copenhagen, London–Gatwick, Madrid, Oslo–Gardermoen, Stockholm–Arlanda
Pacific Coastal Airlines Seasonal charter: Brussels
Ryanair Bergamo, Berlin–Schönefeld, Bologna, Eindhoven, Madrid, Milan–Malpensa, Pisa, Rome–Fiumicino, Treviso, Trieste, Turin
Seasonal: Cagliari (begins 26 March 2017),[12] Marseille
S7 AirlinesSeasonal: Moscow-Domodedovo (begins 2 May 2017)
Scandjet Seasonal charter: Ängelholm-Helsingborg, Kristianstad
SmartLynx Airlines Seasonal charter: Tallinn, Vilnius
SmartWings
operated by Travel Service 		Seasonal: Prague
Sun D'Or
operated by El Al 		Seasonal charter: Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion
Swiss International Air Lines Seasonal: Geneva, Zürich
Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium Seasonal charter: Brussels
Thomson Airways Seasonal charter: Birmingham, Bristol, London–Gatwick, Manchester
Transavia Seasonal: Amsterdam, Munich
Transavia France Seasonal: Paris–Orly
Travel Service Polska Seasonal charter: Warsaw–Chopin
TUIfly Belgium Seasonal: Brussels
TUIfly Nordic Seasonal charter: Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo–Gardermoen, Stockholm–Arlanda
Turkish Airlines Istanbul–Atatürk
Volotea Bari, Genoa, Venice–Marco Polo, Verona
Seasonal: Ancona, Cagliari, Malta,[13] Naples (begins 12 April 2017)[14]
Vueling Barcelona, Florence, Paris–Orly, Rome–Fiumicino
Seasonal: Heraklion, Rhodes, Split
Wizz Air Bucharest, Budapest, Iași, Katowice (begins 28 March 2017), Sofia (begins 26 March 2017),[15] Warsaw–Chopin
White Airways Seasonal charter: Paris–Charles de Gaulle

Ground transportation

Car

The airport is conveniently 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. Passengers can also take a taxi from the terminal building into the city or beyond, with popular locations including nearby Syracuse, Taormina, and the westerly resorts of Palermo and Marsala.

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

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. ↑ http://www.lastampa.it/2014/08/26/blogs/allacciate-le-cinture/airone-chiude-le-operazioni-nessun-volo-prenotabile-ad-ottobre-ocGOzoGnSaLIOzds9WguXP/pagina.html
  6. ↑ http://ftnnews.com/aviation/30870-airbaltic-announces-new-2017-summer-routes.html
  7. ↑ https://www.alitalia.com/en_gb/home-page.html
  8. ↑ https://www.alitalia.com/en_gb/home-page.html
  9. ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2015/11/26/u2-ams-may16/
  10. ↑ "New routes for summer 2015". easyJet.
  11. ↑ http://www.mistralair.it/en/index.shtml
  12. ↑ http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/270171/ryanair-expands-cagliari-service-in-s17/
  13. ↑ <http://www.volotea.com/it/?&esvadt=999999-528902-99826-1&esvq=volotea&esvrq=volotea&esvcrea=5156328867&esvd=c&esvt=11520-MSITe&esvaid=50027
  14. ↑ http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/269344/volotea-s17-new-routes-as-of-14oct16/
  15. ↑ https://money.bg/companies/wizz-air-puska-liniya-ot-sofiya-do-varna-za-19-99-leva.html

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