Aer Lingus Makes Belfast Airport Switch

Irish national carrier Aer Lingus is to boost flights between Belfast and London as part of a revised operating strategy in the Northern Irish city. Having operated at Belfast International Airport since December 2007, the airline has revealed it will switch its flights to George Best Belfast City Airport from this winter, basing two aircraft at the facility from late October 2012 and a third from March 2013 to support its summer offering. The airport switch was made following a recent tender process involving both parties.

The carrier already serves London Heathrow on a three times daily basis from Belfast International, but when it switches to Belfast City at the start of the Northern Winter schedules it will also introduce a three times daily link to London Gatwick. This, it says, will enable it to better target business, leisure and transfer traffic out of the UK capital. These domestic routes will be supplemented with daily flights to Faro and Malaga from March 2013, two destinations are also presently served from Belfast International.

“Northern Ireland’s vital London connections are secure with Aer Lingus,” said Christoph Mueller, Chief Executive Officer, Aer Lingus, at the formal announcement of the decision to move airports this week. “The two aircraft which we normally use in the winter for a mixture of sun destinations and Heathrow will be used for Heathrow and Gatwick with a third aircraft serving two European routes in the new-look summer schedule.”

“This is a commercial decision delivering value for our customers and the company. George Best Belfast City Airport delivers a compelling location and a strong history of business flying. We believe the move will appeal to the 600,000 plus passengers annually who fly with us and especially the business traveller who now has a choice of two London airports with Aer Lingus. We believe switching airports at this time cements our continued commitment to the market and our customers. We expect passenger numbers to grow because of the move,” he added.

There are already around 25 flights a day between Belfast and London and alongside Aer Lingus easyJet offers connections from Belfast International to Gatwick, Luton, Southend and Stansted, while flybe and British Airways (BA) offer links from Belfast City to Gatwick and Heathrow, respectively. Aer Lingus will now compete directly with flybe and BA on these two routes. The table below highlights recent changes in demand on these services.

According to UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data, the total number of passengers flying between Belfast and London in 2011, including transfer traffic was 1,962,300. This represented a decline of 4.0 per cent on the previous year.

Aer Lingus currently offers 49 flights per week from Belfast International Airport with a three times daily route to London Heathrow, daily links to Faro and Malaga; a four times weekly service to Barcelona; three times weekly rotations to Alicante and Arrecife and twice weekly operations to Las Palmas and Tenerife (for week commencing July 23, 2012). The move will not be the first time the carrier has flown from Belfast City as in the early 1980s it offered flights from the facility to Shannon in the Republic of Ireland.