Belfast International Airport (IATA: BFS, ICAO: EGAA) is a major airport located 11.5 NM (21.3 km; 13.2 mi)^[1] northwest of Belfast in Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom. It was formerly known and is still referred to as Aldergrove Airport, after the village of the same name lying immediately to the west of the airport. Belfast International shares its runways with the Royal Air Force base RAF Aldergrove, which otherwise has its own facilities.

Around 4.1 million passengers travelled through the airport in 2011, an 2.3% increase on 2010.^[2] Belfast International is the busiest airport in Northern Ireland and the second busiest airport on the island of Ireland in terms of passenger numbers after Dublin Airport, and is followed by Belfast-City, Cork and Shannon.

The airport is owned by Abertis,^[3] the same company which owns Stockholm Skavsta and Cardiff Airport and is concessionary to Orlando Sanford International Airport and London Luton.^[4]

Belfast International has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P798) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction. The airport's rather distant location compared to Belfast-City means that the airport operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and is not subject to noise abatement procedures, significant environmental constraints or airspace limitations.^{[citation needed]}

History

The airport lies within the parish of Killead, between the small villages of Killead (to the east) and Aldergrove (to the west).

1917-1945

The site for the airport was established in 1917 when it was selected to be a Royal Flying Corps training establishment during the First World War. The airport remained open at the end of the war for RAF activity.

Civil traffic began in 1922 when flights were conducted flying newspapers from Chester, and a regular civil air service started in 1933. The flight was to Glasgow and was operated by Midland and Scottish Air Ferries. This was subsequently augmented by flights to the Isle of Man, Liverpool and Croydon, then Londons airport.

During the Second World War, Aldergrove remained an RAF base particularly for the Coastal Command. So that the airport could accommodate larger, long-range aircraft, a major works programme was undertaken to replace the four existing runways with two new long paved runways, thereby forming the basis of the layout that still exists at the airport today.

1946-1970

One of the outcomes of the wartime airfield construction programme was the building of Nutts Corner Airport, just 3 mi (4.8 km) from Aldergrove. On 1 December 1946, the new site replaced Belfast Harbour Airport (now George Best Belfast City Airport) as Northern Irelands civil airport, as the site at Sydenham was considered unsuitable.

By the 1950s civil air traffic had outstripped the facilities at Nutts Corner and, in addition, aircraft were being regularly diverted to Aldergrove because of adverse weather conditions. In July 1959 the decision was made to move civil flights to Aldergrove to take advantage of the large airfield and this took place in October 1963.

A new terminal and apron were built with the necessary passenger facilities and the complex was opened by Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother on 28 October 1963. In 1966 the first regular jet service to London-Gatwick started and in 1968 Aer Lingus and BOAC introduced scheduled services to New York City via Shannon and Glasgow-Prestwick respectively.

1971-1997

In 1971 Northern Ireland Airports Limited was formed to operate and develop the airport and its facilities. A major programme of airfield upgrades was undertaken resulting in improvements to runways, taxiways and the parking apron.

A new International Pier was built together with lounge facilities and car parks, while an additional apron was provided to separate the smaller general aviation aircraft from large commercial jets. In the meantime, British Airways launched the first Belfast to Heathrow shuttle service, and the first Boeing 747 operated from the airport on a charter service to Toronto via Shannon. The first scheduled service to a European city was started by NLM Cityhopper (now KLM Cityhopper) flying to Amsterdam.

In 1983 the airport, renamed Belfast International, was regularly accommodating the largest civil aircraft in service, and with the installation of new technology was capable of all weather operations. In 1985 passenger numbers reached 1.5 million and BMI went into competition with British Airways on the Heathrow service. Further developments to the terminal occurred throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. A new Executive Aviation Terminal was opened in 1987 and the new cargo centre opened in 1991.

The airport was privatised in 1994. TBI became the new owners of the airport on 13 August 1996, by which time annual passenger numbers had reached 2.5 million.

1998 to date

In 1998 EasyJet started operations from the airport with flights to London Luton. Since then the airline has established a large base at Belfast International and a further ten domestic routes and twelve direct European scheduled routes have been added to the network, making the airline the largest user of the airport.^[5]

In 2005 Continental Airlines launched the first ever direct scheduled service to Newark, and direct scheduled services were later introduced to Vancouver with Zoom Airlines but have now ceased following the carrier's demise in August 2008.

In December 2007 Aer Lingus opened a base at Belfast International, its third hub (and first outside the Republic of Ireland). By March 2008 three Airbus A320 aircraft were based at the airport serving nine Aer Lingus routes from Belfast, and the airline has restored the link between Belfast International and London Heathrow Airport which was abandoned by British Airways.^[6]

Flyglobespan previously operated summer seasonal services to Orlando Sanford International Airport and John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport. These routes ceased following the carrier's demise in December 2009.

Despite these additional flights, passengers at Belfast International did not rise beyond 6 million in 2008 as some had predicted but in fact fell by 10,000 passengers to 5.2 million.

Work has been completed within the airport to move the 'Central Search' area from its previous location, this is part of a bigger plan to increase the area for the main departure Lounge.^[7] In addition, as of June 2010 the airport's new drop off zone has been completed and implemented at the front of the complex. The airport has one jetway located on the international pier that allows speedy boarding. It is used on the Newark Service as well as other charter and high density services to mainland Europe and some transcontinental services. The single terminal is large and accommodates most aircraft. The terminal serves all destinations.

In January 2011, Bmibaby moved to George Best Belfast City Airport in order to keep its operation under one roof with sister company BMI.^[8] A few months later, easyJet announced that their London-Luton route would return to Belfast International and a route to Manchester would commence on 31 October 2011.^[9] In July 2011 easyJet announced their fourth London destination to London Southend.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Belfast International Airport is one of the most important regional airfreight centres in the UK, handling 48,000 tonnes (47,000 long tons; 53,000 short tons) of air cargo in 2008.^[15] BIA plays host to a long-established nightly Royal Mail operation. Fedex Feeder announced its base on the 8th November 2011, basing one ATR. The major cargo operators are:

Statistics