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November 11, 2014Catania Fontanarossa Airport – Spotting Guide
- last modified on April 2, 2024
The airport of Sicily’s second largest city is directly located at Etna’s toe nails creating a unique scenery! Not only a unique scenery makes the airport stunningly good for spotters, superb spotter locations literally sweetens your trip by sitting underneath a sicilian orange tree!
The history of this airport began in the very early years of aviation, when commercial flight had just become possible, back in 1924. The largest airport at that time for the island suddenly became very important when the World War II began. By the time, the airport was expanded a few times but then in the 1980’s, Catania’s airport received a new passenger terminal allowing more passengers to come into CTA, and the airport not only got a new terminal, no, the biggest refurbishment in its history took place! Aeropuerto di Catania was equipped with a brand-new terminal, a new freight sector and the runway was extended. In 2007, a yet larger and newer terminal was inaugurated.
Since it has taken its today’s shape, Catania is Italy’s sixth busiest aerodrome, handling a passenger amount of over10 million passengers in 2019. An airport which plays an important role for Sicily’s international tourism and for shuttle’s to cruisings leaving from Catania.
Written by Marlin & Jonas Lehmann and Artemio. Last change: March 2024 (Security Info and Spot 3 updated)
| Rating | |
| Movements |  |
| Airline Variety |  |
| Photo Locations | |
| Weather | |
| Airport Information | |
| Runways | |
| 08/26 | 2.436 m (7,989 ft) |
| Terminals | One for all flights. |
| Spotting Information | |
| Ladder | There is no need for it. |
| Car/Public Transport | Car is required. No public transport to get around. |
| Restrooms | Available at all publicly accessible buildings like restaurants or inside the terminal building |
| Drinks/Food | There are supermarkets nearby the airport and food is available inside the airport’s terminals. Restaurants are available in every town nearby. |
| Hotels | There are a vast number of hotels along the shoreline and in the suburbs of Catania which are very close to the airport. |
| Season | Catania is busiest during the spring/summer season and during winter peak times for the respective countries. The Miramare hotel offers good views on the runway (holding 26) and part of the terminal from the 3rd floor. The hotel is dated and noisy but nothing to be missed. |
| Security | There is a military area at the southwestern corner of the airport. By Airport officals it is not allowed to take pictures showing the inside any part of the airport. Staying in any area immediately adjacent to the airport is prohibited. If anyone from inside the airport (Airport Security themselves, Bird patrol, Airport Maintenance staff etc..) sees you standing or taking pictures near the airport they will send a patrol of Airport Security to kick you out.The security isn’t allowed to check your documents anymore and has to call the police, which usually doesn’t even come, or if they come, they will be way more friendly towards you, as a matter of fact, “Official” Law enforcement (Polizia Di Stato, Carabinieri, Guardia Di Finanza) are usually very supportive of the hobby and may only ask you to show some of the photos. This mainly applies to spot 2 and 3. |
| Runway Usage | |
| 08/26 | Used in both directions for arrivals and departures |
 |
Spot #1 – Viale Presidente Kennedy – RWY26 arrivals |
|---|---|
| WHERE | There is an unused area between Viale Presidente Kennedy and Via San Guiseppe de la Rena |
| WHAT | Flight arrivals of runway 26 can be observed from here |
| TIME | From the morning until afternoon (in winter months all day long) |
| MISC. | On days with good visibility, the vulcano Etna is clearly visible in the background of your photo. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 130mm for a Boeing 737-300 and Boeing 717 |
 |
Spot #2 – Via San Guiseppe de la Rena – RWY08 departures |
|---|---|
| WHERE | There is a street running parallel to the runway (Via San Guiseppe de la Rena) which allows you to stop your vehicle where you want to (except if you are blocking the road) so you can choose where to photograph. Via San Guiseppe will somewhen snapp off to the right which directly leads you to Spot #4. |
| WHAT | Runway 08 departures only – Arrivals are also visible but you can mostly see the tail scurrying along the bushes only. |
| TIME | From the morning until afternoon (in winter months all day long) |
| MISC. | If you don’t want to lose time with security, do not go there (see red security box at the top). Aircraft height varies on the aircraft’s weight so smaller airplanes may be already high up in the air at this spotting point. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 290mm for an E175; 220mm for an A320; 240mm for an A319 |
 |
Spot #3 – Abandoned field – All movements |
|---|---|
| WHERE | Just a few meters from Spot 2 towards the west, Via San Guiseppe La Rena becomes Strada Primosole and Via San Guiseppe La Rena snaps off to the right in form of a gey narrow street aligned in a angle of 90 degrees to the runway. Drive to the end of the road until it snapps off to the left again. If you stop in this bend, you have reached the field. T UPDATE March 2024: The field is not accesible neither safe anymore. The only “Safe place” is the right column of the entrance gate, on which (if you’re athletic enough) you can climb. |
| WHAT | It offers great visibility from the eastern side of the airport (threshold RWY08) to Taxiway F (runoff for RWY08). Approaches on RWY26 are still spottable, but in really close proximity of touchdown. |
| TIME | From the morning until afternoon (in winter months all day long) |
| MISC. | If you don’t want to lose time with security, I wouldn’t go there. Do not park your car right in the bend to avoid punishments by the police which checks the area regularly. Stand at least 5 meters away from the fence! |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 100mm for an A321; 110mm for a Boeing 737; 120mm for an A319 |
 |
Spot #4 – Orange tree field – RWY08 arrivals |
|---|---|
| WHERE | There is a large field with orange trees in the industrial area in the town of Pigno, to the west of the airport. Park you car anywhere on Strada Comunale Passo Cavaliere and cross a small dried-off stream. Once you are there you can choose a suitable angle for yourself. Google Maps coordinates: 37.463354, 15.045314 |
| WHAT | Runway 08 arrivlas |
| TIME | From the morning until afternoon (in winter months all day long) |
| MISC. | There are fairly aggressive dogs nearby which live in an old station concourse over the way. They will only be pushy when you are, so behave and do not show any misbehaviour in front of them. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | Boeing 737-400: 110mm; A319: 150mm; ATR42: 205mm |
 |
Spot #5 – Ruin – RWY08 arrivals |
|---|---|
| WHERE | There is a ruin right next to the orange tree field from which you can take the 08 arrivals as well! This location is also easier to access than Spot 4. |
| WHAT | Runway 08 arrivals only |
| TIME | From the morning until afternoon (in winter months all day long) |
| MISC. | Be careful when you circumvent the gateway by walking around it as the stones you are walking onto are wobbly. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | A321: 155mm; B734: 155mm |
 |
Spot #6 – Auchan parking deck – RWY08 arrivals |
|---|---|
| WHERE | There is a large shopping mall in the west of the airport where all kind of shops are available like groceries (Auchan) and fashion stores. On its parking level you are able to observe arrivals heading into runway 08. |
| WHAT | Runway 08 arrivals only. There can be a lot of heat haze due to the distance. |
| TIME | In the evenings (only to use in summer! Sun won’t turn over in winter months) |
| MISC. | Food and facilities are available here |
| FOCAL LENGTH | We can only guess the focal lenght you might need: 300-400mm for single aisle aircraft |
Do you have pictures from this location and you are willing to show them here? Just leave a reply underneath this guide and we will immediately contact you. We would be happy about any help!
Hey i think that they started to land from the west they changed it i think unless thats how it was
I have used spot 3 this March, parked right before the bend near the crash gate and had no issues at all. Entered the field from the side and climbed on the side of the old entrance gate of the field. Got a few looks from passing cars but no one stopped.
CRITICAL UPDATE – MARCH 2024
Well, after a year, I have to give the update I’ve never wanted to: You are not allowed to take pictures showing the inside any part of the airport.
This was said to me by airport security officials. Not only that, but staying in any area immediately adjacent to the airport is prohibited. If anyone from inside the airport (Airport Security themselves, Bird patrol, Airport Maintenance staff etc..) sees you standing or taking pictures near the airport they will send a patrol of Airport Security to kick you out.
But I’m not sure about two things: the legality of their actions (currently no other Italian Airport, excluded military bases, as much as I know, prohibit this), and the thruthfullness of the motive. I’m not sure about it because of two things:
1 – The Airport Security guards cite the Airport Regulation document (Regolamento di Scalo) as the reason behind this, but this document, that should be in free access on the web (like other important Italian Airports do), isn’t availible anywhere. I’ve requested a copy of it in the end of February, but to this day (22.03.24), I haven’t got any response.
2 – The motive itself. Since my last update, they have cited numerous different reasons among the times they kicked me out. Most of them don’t make any sense (at least to me, example: “You are not allowed to stay here because of your own safety” – real thing that was said to me in one of the most safe spots (Spot “7”, from my comment of a year ago).
On the good side the security isn’t allowed to check your documents anymore and has to call the police, which usually doesn’t even come, or if they come, they will be way more friendly towards you, as a matter of fact, “Official” Law enforcement (Polizia Di Stato, Carabinieri, Guardia Di Finanza) are usually very supportive of the hobby (in my experience) and may only ask you to show some of the photos (Once one of them took a photo of my photo to show one of his children).
Coming to a conclusion, I must say that currently spots 2 and 3 (also my ex proposed spot N°7 and to a smaller extent 1) are not spots to go to have an awesome xperience with peace of mind.
You can still go there at your own risk, but if you don’t want to lose time with security, I wouldn’t go there.
(If you still want to go, try to not make yourself seen from inside the airport, once you’ve been seen you have 5-25 minutes of time to go away before security comes, and there’s random security patrols outside sometimes).
Update to spot N3: The field is not accesible neither safe anymore. The only “Safe place” is the right column of the entrance gate, on which (if you’re athletic enough) you can climb. It offers great visibility from the eastern side of the airport (threshold RWY08) to Taxiway F (runoff for RWY08). Approaches on RWY26 are still spottable, but in really close proximity of touchdown.
Once again, I must say that this Update was not one that I wanted to make, but my recent experiences just made it mandatory to make people know it.
Hi, thank you for the upadte, even its not the best news. I hope the people within the airport boundaries will become more relaxed in the near future!.
I have updated the description for security info and the two locations.
Cheers, Julian
Hey, I regularly planespot at Catania and I want to share some of the knowledge that i got myself!
CORRECTION ABOUT SPOT N.3
Near the location Nr.3 It’s a perfect place for any activity, but mostly as you mentioned takeoffs from rwy 08. There’s a field that you can access freely, and put yourself directly near the fence of the airport! At the airport there’s the rule that you must be at least five meters away from its new fence, so as long that you don’t go there (you don’t need to be directly near it) you won’t have any problems! I use 110 mm for everything except a321 with 100 and Atr72s with 120. I didn’t have any problems with security at this spot.
SPOT N.7
Another place that you haven’t completely mentioned is at the southern side of the threshold of rwy 26, there, the terrain is already over the fence so you don’t have to do anything except arrive there. This spot is perfect for arrivals on rwy 26. It may be a little bit harder to access, but it’s completely worth it: Directly near the fence of the airport on the left corner of rwy 26, just where the road to the industrial zone passes, there’s a rusty gate, and near it there’s a tree, right after the tree there isn’t any fence so you can access the unused agricultural trail that there is. Follow the trail until after one minute of walking forward you arrive at your destination. I don’t go here for now because of the winds, but if the Rwy 26 is in use you will get some majestic shots of the arrivals and the planes at the threshold of rwy 26 that are ready for departure.
IMPORTANT
Always remember to take your documents with you if you’re near the fence (even if you’re not as near as 5 meters), the patrol cars will ask for them, and if you don’t give them they will kick you out.
PHOTOS
I have a lot of photos from both spots, and if you’d like it i am happy to send them so you can add them!
Hi, thanks for the useful update! Of course we would like to replace the old pictures in our guide.
Can you send us some recent pics to support@spotterguide.net? Would be nice 🙂
-Julian
Stayed at Miramare hotel on the 3rd floor. Good views on the runway (holding 26) and part of the terminal can be seen. The hotel is dated and noisy but nothing to be missed.
Hi Carin, I have added the info but can you provide some photos from there via our contact form please -> https://www.spotterguide.net/contact/
Thanks, Julian