Catania (CTA) Airport & Passenger Statistics 2025

Page last updated: 30 March 2026

Catania-Fontanarossa Airport (CTA) is the main aviation hub in Sicily and one of Italy’s busiest regional airports. It handles over 12 million travelers each year and serves as a key connection point for domestic and international flights across southern Europe.

Overview

How many passengers pass through Catania Airport each year?

Catania Airport processes around 12 million passengers annually, making it one of the fastest-growing major airports in Italy. It consistently ranks among the country’s five busiest airports.

CTA handled 12.37 million passengers in 2025, a 0.2% increase from the previous year and a new all-time record.
The airport exceeded its pre-pandemic high of 10.22 million passengers in 2019 by 21.0%.
Traffic fell to 3.65 million in 2020 due to the pandemic, then rebounded to 6.11 million in 2021 and 10.10 million in 2022.
Passenger volume continued rising from 10.74 million in 2023 to 12.35 million in 2024.

What is the total number of aircraft operations at Catania Airport each year?

Catania Airport handles more than 70,000 aircraft operations per year.

In 2025, aircraft movements totaled 81,003, a 1.9% decrease from 82,530 in 2024 but 10.7% higher than 73,154 in 2023.
The previous peak year was 2019, with 74,964 operations, before dropping to 32,037 in 2020 during the pandemic.
A steady recovery followed, with 47,511 operations in 2021 and 72,916 in 2022.

Which airlines operate the most flights out of Catania Airport?

Low-cost airlines dominate at Catania Airport, with Ryanair leading by a significant margin.

Ryanair operates 41 routes from CTA.
Wizz Air Malta and easyJet each serve 14 routes.
Neos follows with 9 routes.
Volotea rounds out the top five with 7 routes.

What are the monthly trends in passenger traffic at Catania Airport?

Passenger traffic peaks from June through September, with each of these months surpassing 1.2 million travelers in 2025.

August was the busiest month with 1.29 million passengers.
July followed with 1.26 million, then September with 1.23 million.
February saw the lowest traffic with about 703,017 passengers, while January had approximately 706,395.

How many routes are there at Catania Airport?

Catania Airport serves over 100 destinations through its airline partners.

The domestic network includes all major Italian cities, with especially strong service to Rome and Milan.
Internationally, CTA has wide coverage across Germany, the UK, France and Eastern Europe.

Which destinations are the most popular from Catania Airport?

Top Domestic Destinations

Rome Fiumicino (FCO) leads with 533 monthly flights, primarily operated by ITA Airways, and is Italy’s busiest domestic air corridor.
Milan’s three airports handle notable traffic, with Malpensa (243 flights) serving as the primary Lombardy hub, Linate (181 flights) focusing on business travel via ITA Airways, and Bergamo (98 flights) catering to low-cost operations.
Bologna (BLQ) sees 137 monthly flights, linking to the Emilia-Romagna region.

Top International Destinations

Malta (MLA) tops the list with 69 monthly flights, offering key Mediterranean connectivity.
Budapest (52 flights) serves Central European travel demand.
Bucharest (44 flights) connects travelers to a major Eastern European destination.
Krakow (39 flights) and Vienna (37 flights) round out the leading European destinations.

Italy Travel Resources

How much cargo does Catania Airport handle annually?

While primarily focused on passenger traffic, Catania Airport also manages a modest amount of air cargo.

The airport handled 5,017 tons of cargo in 2025, a 2.5% decline from 5,146 tons in 2024.
The 2019 peak was 7,325 tons, followed by a drop to 4,918 tons in 2020.
Cargo volume rebounded in 2021 to 7,303 tons, then held relatively steady with 6,587 tons in 2022 and 6,590 tons in 2023.

How much revenue has Catania Airport generated each year?

Catania Airport surpassed €100 million in annual revenue for the first time in 2024.

Revenue reached €113.7 million in 2024.
Pre-pandemic revenue was €86.5 million in 2019.
In 2020, revenue dropped to €32.2 million, then recovered to €53.9 million in 2021.
Growth continued in 2022 with €95.6 million and 2023 with €99.9 million.

What are some notable incidents at Catania Airport?

July 2024: A major Mount Etna eruption caused all flights to be suspended due to volcanic ash.
September 2023: A national labor strike led to 12 flight cancellations and 8 delays.
July 2023: A Terminal A fire temporarily shut down the airport and caused multi-day disruptions.

Other Airport Statistics

References

CTA: Catania Airport Operational Data
FC: Popular Destination from Catania Airport
SAC: Catania Airport Annual Revenue
ANO: Incidents at Catania Airport