Airfare to Catania

Search here for great deals on cheap airfare to Catania

When you’re looking into the options for flying to Sicily, the first city you might think of to look at is Palermo – but although Palermo is the island’s largest city it’s only the second-busiest airport. The city of Catania is where you’ll find the biggest and busiest international airport in Sicily.

The city of Catania is on the eastern coast of Sicily, just south of Mt. Etna, and is Sicily’s second-largest city. Since it’s almost always easier to see the sights on the island of Sicily by renting a car and driving yourself around, it’s not necessarily as critical to fly into the biggest city in Sicily. There are rail lines connecting the biggest cities on the island, to be sure, but by flying into the Catania Airport you can still more easily visit the biggest attractions in Sicily with a car.

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Airports in Catania

The airport in Catania is called Catania-Fontanarossa Airport (CTA), although it’s sometimes called the Vincenzo Bellini Airport (the Italian composer was born in Catania). The airport is less than three miles from the city of Catania, making it a quick trip either way.

As a huge bonus, since Catania is so close to Mt. Etna – Europe’s tallest active volcano – you’re apt to get some pretty amazing views flying in or out of Catania-Fontanarossa Airport (as is shown by the picture above).

There are shuttles that connect the Catania Airport with the city’s train station as well as buses to other destinations on the island, or you can rent a car at the airport from the long list of car rental companies with desks at the airport.

There are several major airlines that fly to Catania, as well as many budget carriers, so you have many options for finding Sicily flights – it just depends where you’re coming from. The major airlines serving Catania include Alitalia, British Airways, and Lufthansa.

>> Find out what budget airlines fly to Catania

How to Find Cheap Airfare to Catania

Airfare to Italy is routinely the biggest expense of any Italian vacation, and if you’ve done your homework you know that flying to Italy is often more expensive than flying to other countries in Western Europe. So finding cheap flights is an important step to traveling in Italy on a budget.

Here are some tips to help you find cheap flights to Catania.

Check out alternate airports – While Catania isn’t large enough to have multiple airports serving the city, the island of Sicily has a few other airports you might consider. Yes, Catania’s the largest – but you never know when another airport will be offering better deals. Your other Sicily options are to fly into Palermo Airport (PMO) or Trapani Airport (TPS), and as long as you’re going to rent a car and drive around anyway either of these options could work. If your vacation is centered in and around Catania, however, getting from Trapani on the opposite side of the island would likely be too much of a hassle.

Avoid high-season travel – Italy’s high season is summer in general, and Sicily’s high season is roughly the same – although the month of August is particularly busy on the island, when Italians and Europeans take their month of summer vacation and hit the beaches. Sicily’s beach resorts are almost always expensive, and they’re even more so in August. If you can avoid the summer, you stand a much better chance of finding cheaper flights to Catania. In fact, since Sicily doesn’t tend to get as cold even in winter, you might consider a winter trip – assuming you’re not beach-bound, that is.

Look into budget airlines – There’s a good selection of budget carriers that fly to Catania, so if your trip to Sicily will involve at least one stop in Europe before you arrive then that gives you an opportunity to switch to a budget airline for the last leg of your trip. Some of the low-cost airlines flying to Catania are Air Berlin, easyJet, and Wizzair. (Read more about budget airlines that fly to Catania.)

Use airlines that use Catania as a hub – Not every airport serves as a hub for an airline, but Catania does. Wind Jet uses this airport as a hub, so although it’s not usually listed with the cheapest airlines it’s worth checking with them because they have frequent flights in and out of Catania connecting with several European hubs (including Amseterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, London, and Paris).

photo by Jerry Gunner