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3:45 AM pickup in Catania for a 6:00 AM flight. Is a taxi sufficient?

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My family and I will be staying in Catania in a few weeks, and we have a very early morning flight. We need to be at the airport around 4:00 AM, and our Airbnb is about 15 minutes away.

I asked our Airbnb host if they could recommend a private driver, but they told us there was really no need. Instead, they recommended Radio Taxi Catania and said to call about 24 hours in advance to schedule the pickup. They also mentioned there is an English option when calling.

I want to trust the advice from our host, and it sounds straightforward, but since we'll be traveling with family and have an early flight, I'd love to get a second opinion from locals.

Would you feel comfortable relying on Radio Taxi Catania for a 3:45 AM pickup to the airport? Have any of you used them for early morning airport transfers?

Thanks!

Posted by
768 posts

I don’t know about that particular company but based on having flown early morning from Catania earlier this year your timing is fine. In fact you may not even find the check in desk open yet at 4 am — our tour company got us there too early and we had to wait around for that. There is some inherent risk in transport from an air B&B compared to a hotel that drivers are familiar with and where there’s a desk clerk on duty to make sure things work out, but it sounds like good advice from your host who surely has answered the same question repeatedly before. And if someone else on this forum recommended someone else such as a private driver how would that be any more reliable than an established taxi company to honor your reservation in the wee hours?

Posted by
81 posts

we used them, they were great. We also had an early pickup. it was a very reasonable fixed fee. It's a short journey- especially your time of the day. This was about one month ago, btw.

Posted by
81 posts

I should add we communicated with them through texts on WhatsApp- very popular app in Europe for stuff like this, restaurant reservations, etc.

Posted by
9409 posts

Not a local, but have been to Catania recently.

Radio Taxi is just the call service for the local cabs. There may also be a taxi app used in Catania, but I don't recall. There is no conventional Uber or Bolt service, and at that time of the morning, even if you reserve ahead, those apps are not reliable.

I would go with the Radio Taxi, you say family, so be sure to tell them how many, you might need two cabs.

The Catania airport is small so you should be fine with the timing.

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