Catania Airport

Filthy chaotic poorly managed and miserable. Expected to queue at check-in/bag drop and that was only for 5 minutes but the queue for security had to be seen to be believed and made even worse by ignorant people trying to jump in the queue claiming they only had five minutes (but were then seen the other side drinking). It was then bedlam at the departure gate with two flights "queuing" at adjacent gates and incoherent announcements. Such an appalling end to a beautiful holiday. Airports should be clean there should be soap toilet paper and regular emptying of bins in toilets and proper organisation at security and departure gates all of which was sorely lacking at Catania.

Have just come back from our first holiday in Sicily - arriving and departing from Catania. Arrived at Catania Airport this morning with 2 hours prior to departure time to be greeted with complete and utter chaos caused by overflow in the airport check in security queues. Average queue time of over 2.5 hours to get through airport security - queues of over 300 deep! People missing their flights and lots of friction between passengers due to queue jumping and lack of staff in managing the situation. We only managed to catch our flight as we stumbled across an alternative queue reserved for solo passengers. Situation not acceptable nor sustainable and the airport management seriously need to address this issue. Security staff looked incredibly weary and I would have concerns as to whether this affected their ability to perform the necessary security checks.

We travelled during the busiest holiday period in August and this airport was completely inadequate and ill equipped to deal with it. There was no crowd management with long and disorganised queues at check in and security. People were pushing in and weaving in and out all the time. It was so bad that other passengers used their phones to film people cutting in the queues as evidence. There should have been more staff on duty and more desks open to deal with the crowds. Hardly ideal after a 2 and a half hour coach journey from the hotel. Also not enough toilets and very few meal options in the departure lounge plus not enough seating at our gate.

On arrival and departure I used the toilets they were the worst that I have ever used in any airport. There was no soap in dispensers. Looking at the general condition of these toilets and wash areas they looked as if they had never been adequately cleaned. A total disgrace. Management should be ashamed.

Totally under resourced. Bar and catering airside very poor. About 5 tables to eat at! VIP lounge poor as noted elsewhere poorly air conditioned few drinks and poor food. Airlines should not support it! Travelling with British Airways.

Quite the worst organised airport it has ever been my misfortune to visit. Only 2 security gates open at busy time and queues backing through the doors. No information and staff denying there is any problem. Little better after security cleared with poor experience at the gate. All in all - dreadful!

What a dreadful place. Light and airy airport but shocking facilities and the VIP lounge is incredibly bad and nothing but a terrible rip off for those who have paid to upgrade. The VIP lounge is tiny the day I visited there was a surly girl on the desk making a private phone call who seemed most annoyed that I requested the Wi-fi password which then didn't work. A few packet of crisps and a tall glass fridge with three bottles of water and a handful of bottles of orange juice. That isn't what people pay VIP fees for. No alcohol and no food and two day old newspapers. The toilets in the VIP lounge were filthy and the toilet roll holder in the ladies isn't even next to the toilet. Someone had also been smoking in the loo. The bars and shops in the airport are incredibly expensive. You can't wait to get out of this place. Once you go through passport control there aren't enough seats for passengers waiting to board so people sit on the floors.

Spacious with lots of seats. Shops are of standard number and quality. The VIP lounge upstairs is clean and tidy. Small but with good view of the apron but the drinks selection is limited to soft drinks and no food other than some miserable crisps. 2 newspapers and a magazine and that was it.

New terminal is a nice spacious building with plenty of check-in desks and several security gates the queuing times are very low. Unfortunately there are no adequate seating facilities toilets are usually almost clean but not so easy to get to there are only a few shops and places to buy food that open quite late in the morning. Staff is not so friendly and speaks only Italian. Once passport control was closed and we had to wait a few moments for the policeman to open. Never had problems with the luggage though.

Have had the misfortune to visit this airport on several occasions and have to agree with other comments regarding the filthy state of the place lack of customer service and very limited options for purchasing a meal. Last night we travelled from Catania to Malta and as usual it was filthy dirty the check-in staff surly and the icing on the cake was that the runway was closed for 3 and a half hours (no reason given for this) we has to sit and wait for 5 interminable hours with everything closed - no shops or bars to break the monotony- really not what you expect at all.