Having recently explored the aerial connectivity of the Italian island of Sardinia, today the focus lies on the region of Sicily. Situated off the southern tip of the Italian mainland, the region consists of a main island that shares its name with the region, as well as smaller surrounding landmasses. Six airports serve the region.
Two main hubs
Regarding international travel, My Guide Sicily reports that four of the six airports have connections to foreign destinations. Of these, the two largest and busiest facilities are Palermo (PMO) in the northwest of the main island, and Catania (CTA) on its eastern coastline. The latter of these is the busier of the two facilities.
Indeed, data from Assaeroporti shows that more than 6.1 million passengers used Catania Airport in 2021, a 67.6% increase compared to 2020. Furthermore, Eurostat data shows that, with over 1 million passengers last year, Catania-Rome was Europe's second-busiest air route. As well as a raft of European destinations, Catania also has direct links as far afield as Dubai and Tel Aviv.
Palermo-Rome saw almost 750,000 passengers last year, ranking 10th among Europe's busiest routes. Over 4.5 million people used Palermo Airport in 2021, with many of the routes being seasonal due to Sicily's value as a summer tourist destination. Nonetheless, several international destinations, such as Frankfurt, Malta, and Munich, do see year-round flights from their country's flag carriers.
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Low-cost bases
Sicily's other two international airports tend to have more of a low-cost focus, with Ryanair, in particular, being a dominant presence. The largest of these is Trapani–Birgi Airport (TPS), which is located at the main island's western tip.
The facility, which the Italian Air Force also uses, processed just under 430,000 passengers last year, up 131.9% compared to 2020. Ryanair serves a range of European destinations on a seasonal basis from Trapani, with Dutch carrier Corendon also getting in on the act with flights from Amsterdam and Maastricht. Various Italian destinations also have year-round connections to Trapani.
Arguably Ryanair's most dominant Sicilian presence can be found at Comiso Airport (CIY) in the south of the main island. While other Sicilian airports have more Ryanair routes, Comiso is an outlier in the sense that Ryanair operates all but one of the facility's total routes. Flying year-round to Brussels-Charleroi and various Italian cities, Ryanair is joined by a single AlbaStar route from Comiso to Cuneo.
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Domestic-only airports
Away from the main island of Sicily, the region also has two airports situated on smaller surrounding islands. One of these is Lampedusa Airport (LMP), which has year-round links to Catania and Palermo operated by, in a curious turn of events, Danish Air Transport (DAT). Lampedusa also sees seasonal service from several other airlines, who operate flights to and from the Italian mainland.
The situation at Pantelleria (PNL) is similar, although, in addition to year-round DAT flights from Palermo, its only other full-time destination is Trapani. That being said, DAT does link it with Catania and Lampedusa on a seasonal basis. Air Horizont, ITA Airways, and Volotea are the airport's other seasonal domestic operators.
How many of Sicily's airports have you listed? Do you have a favorite? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!
Sources: Assaeroporti, Eurostat, My Guide Sicily