The airport is conveniently accessible by car, public and long-distance bus, and there is a train station nearby.
Car rental
If you want to travel around Sicily thoroughly, renting a car is the most convenient mode of transport. There are several car rental branches right in the arrivals area of the terminal, but always book online in advance.
Use the comparison engine to compare all available car rental companies from Booking.com, which will show you all the offers and you can then book your car through it.
Weekly rental prices vary between 150 eur and 250 eur depending on the size of the car and the season.
The "Alibus" bus to Catania
The red and blue Alibus runs from the airport to the centre and the main station . Buses leave every 25 minutes from 5:00 to 0:30 (see timetable and route map), the journey takes less than half an hour and a 90-minute ticket valid for other public transport lines in Catania costs 4 eur.
Tickets can be bought at the kiosk inside the arrivals hall, at the vending machine at the bus stop, from the driver or online in the AMT app (available on Google Play / App Store). In all cases, you can pay with cash or card.
The Alibus bus stop is located approximately 70 metres to the right of the terminal exit.
- Travel time to Catania - 28 minutes
- Frequency - 25 minutes
- Fares - 4 eur / transfer at 90 minutes
- First connection from the centre (P.zza Giovanni XXIII) - 5:08
- Last connection from the airport - 00:30
- Official website: amts.ct.it/alibus
Buses 524 and 538
A cheaper alternative is offered by bus number 524 (map and timetable: amt.ct.it/524), but it does not go directly to the terminal. You have to walk about 300 metres to "Via Santa Maria Goretti", where you will find the Goretti-Campo Nord stop (see location on the map).
The journey to the centre takes half an hour. The line runs from approx. 5:15 to 20:10 every 40 minutes and the ticket costs 1 eur. You can buy it at the newsagent at the airport, want a pronounced bus ticket for 1 euro, or conveniently on the AMT app (available on: Google Play / App Store).
There is also a day ticket for this bus for 2,50 eur, which cannot be used on the Alibus line. Bus number 538 also goes to the same stop, but it takes about twice as long to get to the centre.
Timetables for all bus routes in Catania can be found on the website: amt.ct.it/percorsi-e-orari, and information on all types of public transport tickets in Catania can be found here.
Buses to other cities
Other cities: several bus companies stop directly at the airport and operate routes mainly to the eastern and southern parts of Sicily.
- Palermo - Flixbus, Sais Autolinee buses depart hourly from 4:30am to 8pm, tickets cost 14 eur (sold at the bus stop kiosk or online, not from the driver),
- Siracusa - Interbus operates a direct service to southern Sicily every 30 minutes from 8:40am to 8:10pm. To pay for a ticket to Siracusa, visit 6,40 eur,
- Taormina and Letojanni - direct Interbus services, price 6,50 eur
- Enna - Flixbus and Sais Autolinee buses, price 8 eur
- Agrigento - Flixbus and Sais Trasporti, price 13,40 eur
- Ragusa - direct connections Interbus, price 8,60 eur
- Trapani - direct connections Flixbus, price 23 eur
- Messina - direct connections Flixbus, price 9 eur
Train
About 950 metres from the airport, the Catania Aeroporto Fontanarossa train station has been built, from where the terminal can be reached on foot along the pavement (see walking route map).
Direct trains run past the airport from Syracuse through the centre of Catania, Taormina and on to Messina. Check the website for connections Trenitalia.com. Tickets can be bought from a machine at the station, but can also be purchased online for the same price.
For example, a ticket to Catania city centre costs 2,20 eur, to Syracuse 8,80 eur.
Taxi
Unfortunately a taxi will be necessary for early morning departures before 7am, which cannot be safely reached by public transport. Taxi fares to central Catania vary between 25 eur and 30 eur depending on the specific destination.
The mobile app Uber also operates in Catania.
Hi, not all rental companies are in the lobby, some have an office right in the P4 parking lot. For example. Noleggiare (it's nicely signposted from the lobby to the office in the car park), which we used and everything was ok in the end although we had a cover through Booking (approx 70e instead of 200e directly from Noleggiare). But I was quite nervous because the booking support didn't respond to my questions at all, so I don't know how it would have been if the rental company had charged us something.