Catania Airport coach transfers for Taormina, Etna and Siracusa

Two terminals and a coach park

Flights use Terminal A and Terminal C; to get to C's departures, vehicles follow the arrivals road. PB/BUS is the car park set aside for buses, open day and night. The barrier-controlled lane at arrivals is for authorised vehicles only, such as public-transport buses.

No rule spells out where a tourist coach picks up its group. Agree the meeting point, and where the coach will wait, with the operator when booking. Demolition of the former Terminal Morandi has shut the adjacent road for now, so the operator checks the current route.

Up to Taormina

Most of the run is on the A18 motorway. The last stretch climbs by hairpin bends, and Taormina's historic centre is closed to tourist coaches, which neither drive in nor stop there. The usual base is the Lumbi coach park, with a shuttle bus about every 15 minutes to near Porta Messina. Allow for that shuttle, luggage included, on arrival day.

Where the coach meets the group

• Under ENAC Ordinance 1/2026 (Sicilia Orientale), the airport has a dedicated bus car park, PB/BUS. In the arrivals area, a barrier-controlled reserved lane, with bays for taxis and buses, is open only to authorised vehicles, including buses of public-transport companies and NCC (cars with driver) collecting aircrew; access to the arrivals-area limited-traffic zone (ZTL) is only for the authorised categories listed in the ordinance. The airport publishes no group meeting point: agree the meeting point and where the coach will wait with the operator when booking.

Coach parking and waiting

• Parking is forbidden on the airport roads outside the marked areas. The car parks are open around the clock: P1 and P3 for short stays, PB/BUS for buses, P4 and P6 for long stays.

By road to the city centre

• about 65 km by road to Piazza IX Aprile, in the centre of Taormina (about 9 km to the centre of Catania), about 1 h 10 min to Taormina in light traffic (about 15 min to central Catania); longer at peak times and in summer

Etna, Siracusa and Catania

For Etna, the Rifugio Sapienza on the south side is some 44 km off; the mountain road is slow, so count on roughly 1 h 10 min. Ortigia in Siracusa is about 64 km, also around 1 h 10 min. Central Catania is about 9 km, around 15 minutes. Access to the upper slopes changes with volcanic activity, so no altitude is fixed in advance.

When the ash falls

Now and then Etna's ash forces the airport to shut or cut back flights, which are sent to other Sicilian airports instead. The coach then has to meet the group somewhere else. Keep the operator told of any change of flight or airport as soon as you hear of it.

Questions organisers ask

Is there a train or metro?

The Catania Aeroporto Fontanarossa station serves the airport, and the Alibus runs to central Catania and the railway station. The metro is being extended to the airport but does not reach it yet.

Can a full-size coach reach Taormina?

It reaches the municipal coach parks, not the centre. The operator plans the route and the coach size for the hairpin road.

Are there scheduled coaches from the airport?

Regional coaches run to Siracusa, Taormina, Messina, Palermo, Agrigento and Ragusa. A hired coach runs on the group's own timetable.

Cities

• Taormina

Vehicles with a driver

• Full-size coach (pullman gran turismo) — Seats: 49-57
• Midi-coach (midibus) — Seats: 29-35
• Minibus — Seats: 9-16 passengers plus the driver
• Executive Sprinter-style minibus — Seats: 8-16 passengers plus the driver
• Executive car with driver (NCC, noleggio con conducente) — Seats: 1-3 (up to 8 passengers in a van-type car)
• Wheelchair-accessible minibus — Seats: Varies by layout; wheelchair positions replace seats

Request a Catania airport coach

Send the flights, group size and hotels in Taormina, Catania or elsewhere. A licensed partner operator picks a coach that suits the road.

Request a quote or call 35227647770