George Best Belfast Airport News
Increased Visitors Expected to Arrive as a Result of the Peace Deal.
May 7, 2007
The recently brokered peace deal in Northern Ireland has seen the number of tourists to that part of the Emeral Isle climb steadily, with Belfast being the city most favoured by visitors. This is not surprising, as the Northern Ireland capital is one of the UK’s most vibrant cities, a great place for shopping, eating and partying and with a wealth of sporting venues on the doorstep. In fact, it could soon overtake Dublin as a place for week-end stag and hen nights.
To take advantage of this surge in visitors, George Best Belfast City Airport, just ten minutes from the centre of the city, is hoping for a favourable review by the Department of the Environment’s Planning Office to their request for an increase in the allowable number of passengers to the airport. Operating restrictions limit scheduled services to between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. and air traffic movements are restricted to 45,000 per year.
The Ferrovial-owned airport currently handles around 2 million passengers a year, but they would like to see this increased to four million by the year 2030. It is hoped that growth will be around 4% per year. The review was aplied for in 2004 and it is hoped that a conclusion will be presented shortly. It is now down to the planners.
George Best Belfast recently added London City to its network, thus linking the two capitals together and offering business travellers rapid entry and exit. Transatlantic services are not on the cards just yet, as the runway length is not adequate, but it is hoped that eventually, the airport could have more direct flights to key business routes such as Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris.
British Airways disengaged from the London Heathrow-Belfast route following the 9/11 attacks. A spokesman claimed that the route was still under review and they have not discarded the idea of returning to Belfast. Meantime, Flybe is the dominant carrier at the airport with dozens of aircraft catering for business passengers, and bmi has a significant presence using Airbus A319 jets, the largest machine along with the Boeing 737-800, that can use the 1,826m runway..
A series of new routes, including Dundee (flywhoosh), Cardiff and Paris (Flybe), as well as Blackpool (Jetstream Express) were recently unveiled at the airport. Increased numbers of visitors from Scotland, North of England, Wales and France will be given the famous hundred thousand welcomes this summer, as they touch down at the airport named after Belfast’s favourite son – George Best.
 |
