Catania airport still in a tailspin: disrupted flight network in Sicily
Slightly improving situation at Catania airport, after the fire a week ago now that compromised Terminal A [...]
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Slightly improving situation at Catania airport after the fire of now a week ago which compromised the Terminal A Of Sicily's most important airport.
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However, there is currently no certainty as to when the Terminal affected by the fire may reopen: only the July 20 last, in fact, the Sac management company was able to gain access to the premises to begin cleanup operations and allow flight operations to resume as soon as possible.
Luggage delivered below board
Therefore, it is to be expected that there will be a further extension of the closure (scheduled through July 25). Meanwhile, the same company let passengers arriving in Catania know that checked baggage should be picked up "as soon as we got off the plane, underboard. At the moment, in fact, baggage reclaim service is suspended due to the temporary closure of Terminal A and unavailability of the belts."
Of the total number of flights planned on Fontanarossa, though, only the 30% manages to start and arrive to Catania from Terminal C, which was equipped with a tent set up by Civil Defense useful for accommodating more passenger traffic.
Until midnight on July 25, in fact, the following are authorized only 4 flights per hour departing and arriving over Catania. Connections are to be only to and from Schengen airports, so nothing to do yet for non-European international routes.
The 70% of flights over other airports.
The remaining 70% of arrivals and departures continue to be "diverted" to the rest of Sicily, specifically to Comiso, Palermo and Trapani. Transfers, then, take place via regular buses and shuttles made available since last Monday.
Meanwhile, Catania Airport posted on its Facebook profile. the list of departing shuttle buses to reach the other 3 Sicilian airports.
"We reopened Terminal C in 24 hours," he stressed. Nico Torrisi, Sac's chief executive officer-we could not reopen Terminal A, which was sequestered and even now work is going on 24 hours a day: we relied on the technicians who came from the U.S. and are working nonstop. We made a fifth gate and built a tensile structure that at least allows us to streamline traffic."
Trapani and the long bus connections
In fact, according to Sac data, at least 14,000 passengers departed from Catania today. At the airport of Trapani Birgi, meanwhile, the number of passengers quadrupled: 58,000 users for a total of 455 flights in just under a week, with an average of 11,600 passengers e 91 flights per day. About 100 buses are also shuttling between the opposite coasts of the region.
A borderline situation, however, because bus travel is slow and "under-capable." For this Salvatore Ombra, president of Airgest - company that manages the Trapani airport - reiterates the need to equip Sicily with rail-centered intermodal transport. Intermodality that is practically nonexistent to date.
In addition, passengers Ryanair the airport asks to change the boarding pass independently.
"In order to avoid queues at check-ins, passengers are requested to. edit independently from Ryanair's website their own boarding pass, from Catania airport to Trapani airport. It is also recommended to reach the terminal well in advance," Airgest claims on its website.
Palermo in trouble
For tomorrow, July 25, however, about 10 incoming flights and departing from Palermo airport. These are all round-trip connections "diverted" from Catania.
In detail they will fly over the Sicilian capital: Turkish Airlines for Istanbul; Eurowings for Dusseldorf Hamburg and Stuttgart; Vueling For Florence; Brussels Airlines for Brussels; Volotea for Verona, Olbia and Toulouse; Edelweiss For Zurich.
Decreasing, then, are the flights moved to Palermo partly because the airport claims it is overflowing and can no longer handle the huge number of passengers.
"We don't have enough staff to handle 8-9 thousand more people than expected, so many are those that were destined for Fontanarossa - said Vito Riggio, ad di Gesap, the company that operates the Palermo airport.
Flights over Comiso
Meanwhile, Comiso airport continues to be the most affected by flights "diverted" from Catania, partly because of a matter of proximity (about an hour and a half drive for a distance of 90 kilometers).
On some days, the Hyblaean airport reached the record of nearly 100 flights within 24 hours. For tomorrow, June 25, Comiso's management company has posted online the list of flights that will be operated.
We quote them below:
Thus, the time to restore Catania's airport in the midst of one of the Biggest summer peaks in history of Italian and regional air transport.
No one is speculating on the certain date: meanwhile airlines and tour operators report increased cancellations from passengers flying to Sicily in the coming days.
