Belfast City Airport [1937-2000]
In 1937 Shorts established Sydenham Airport beside their East Belfast factory. Between 1938 and 1939 it acted as Belfast's main civilian airport before being requisitioned by the Royal Navy during the Second World War. The airfield continued to be used for military purposes until the 1970s when Shorts regained control. In 1983 the airfield was opened for commercial flights as Belfast Harbour Airport (later to become Belfast City Airport).

Belfast City Airport [2001 – Present]
The airport currently has one single 1829 metre long runway which provides for 40% of all scheduled domestic air travel in Northern Ireland and almost 2.7 million passengers a year [2010].

To deal with the significant growth in airport operations in the late 1990’s the airport planned a new £21m terminal designed by BDP Architects. Construction began in December 1999 and 18 months later the new terminal opened on the 3rd June 2001. At 100,000sq ft the new terminal was a far cry from the old 1983 building which was never designed to cope with the volume of passengers and flights now using the airport. In 2001 the airport had seen a 15 fold increase in air traffic since 1983. The new terminal building provided 20 check in desks and 10 aircraft stands. The airport did not qualify for any public funding and all the costs were footed by Bombardier Aerospace, the Canadian parent company of Shorts which then ran the airport.

In 2003 the Airport was sold by Bombardier Aerospace/Shorts to Ferrovial for £35 million.

On May 22 2006 the airport was renamed George Best Belfast City Airport.

The drop off and pick up areas of the Airport were altered in 2009 to reflect changes in UK guidelines. The drop off and pick up area was moved from the front of the terminal building to an area of the short stay car park were a covered walkway was installed to connect with the terminal.

The Airport began a £6m redevelopment in early 2009 to rearrange existing facilities. This was BDP’s fourth design commission for Belfast City Airport since the new terminal building. As part of the project the departures lounge was moved upstairs and the existing lounge was replaced by a larger central search area. The new enlarged departure lounge opened on 29th November 2009 and provided 60% more retail space airside. The first floor departures lounge is capable of handling 12,000 passengers per day and was completed ahead of schedule by McLaughlin & Harvey. The entire project was completed in March 2010 and also saw the BMI and flybe lounges re-located and refurbished.


Belfast City Airport Airlines

Ryanair 
Ryanair began flights from Belfast City Airport in 2007 to five locations in the UK - Bristol, East Midlands, Prestwick, Liverpool and London. It was reported that Ryanair was flying about 800,000 passengers a year from the airport despite not being able to fill aircraft due to the shorter runway at Belfast City and a restriction on seats for sale at the airport. Ryanair employed around 50 people at the airport both directly and indirectly and had one aircraft based at Belfast City.

On 31st August 2010 it was announced that Ryanair would leave the City Airport following the end of its three year deal on 31st October 2010. Ryanair said the decision was influenced by the airport's confirmation that a public inquiry into a planned runway extension would be further delayed.

Ryanair's Chief Executive Michael O'Leary was quoted as saying that "it is very disappointing that the promised runway extension at Belfast City Airport has still not materialised more than three years after we opened the base at Belfast City". Though he did say that if permission was granted in the future, then Ryanair would come back. [Michael O’Leary talking to BBC News about the decision to leave Belfast City Airport]

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Economist John Simpson said, the departure of Ryanair could amount to a loss of £5.5m per year to the City Airport, based on its passengers accounting for one third of the 2.6 million who passed through last year [2009], when turnover was around £17m.

Further reaction to Ryanair leaving the airport can be viewed at this link on the BBC News website.


Flybe
Flybe is the largest airline operating at Belfast City Airport [in terms of routes offered] and has been operating out of the City Airport since 1983 [then known as Spacegrand Aviation]. Originally operating as British European at the old Airport Terminal the rebranded Flybe operation now flies to nearly 20 destinations from its Belfast base.

Following the departure of Ryanair from the airport Flybe quickly snapped up three Ryanair routes within a week of the Ryanair announcement. Flybe started flights to Bristol, East Midlands and Liverpool the day after Ryanair left these routes. The move resulted in Flybe locating two additional aircraft at the airport.

Easyjet
Easyjet commenced a service to London Luton in January 2010 from Belfast City Airport. Following the trial of the new route Easyjet announced an increase in frequency on the Luton route from 31 October 2010. Easyjet continues to operate the remainder of its destinations from Belfast International.

BMI Baby
On 25th November 2010 BMI Baby announced it was to switch all services from Belfast International Airport to Belfast City Airport from January 2011. The BMI Baby routes are Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and East Midlands.

BMI
BMI fly from the City Airport to London Heathrow and are the only airline operating from the airport to use the Airports jetway.

Manx 2
In October 2010 Manx 2 switched operations from the International Airport to Belfast City Airport. The airline operates services to Cork, Galway, Isle of Man and Blackpool.

Aer Arann
Flew the Belfast to Cork route until services were suspended from 31 August 2010 due to an aircraft leaving the fleet [the lease agreement on the aircraft had expired]. Aer Arann stated that if the fleet expanded then they would consider reopening the route.

Thomas Cook Airways
During the summer 2010 Thomas Cook operated charter flights to Reus near Barcelona.


Belfast City Airport Seats for Sale Restriction

Belfast City Airport operates with a cap on the number of seats that can be sold each year. Previously this cap was set at 1.5 million however it was then increased to the current 2 million. In November 2009 passenger figures for the Airport revealed that 2,335,501 passengers had already passed through the airport that year. Managing Director of Belfast International Airport expressed his concerns over this to Stormont’s regional development committee at the time.

In December 2009 Belfast City Airport approached the Environment Minister Edwin Poots to remove the two million cap on the number of seats that can be sold. A previous Planning Agreement in 2008 stated that consideration would be given to the removal of restrictions if an effective noise management system was in place. Belfast City Airport installed and began operating a noise management system over six months before they approached the Environment Minister and in a statement the Airport stated that it was the only airport in Europe with a seats for sale restriction.

The following year in June 2010 the Environment Minister launched a consultation on the effects of a removal of the cap on seats for sale. In October 2010 the proposals to lift the cap were discussed at Stormont when the Environment Committee heard from local residents and Airport officials. Following the meeting the Environment Committee recommended that more public consultation was needed and that the Minister should decide on the seats for sale cap in tandem with a public inquiry into the runway extension. On 6th December 2010 the Environment Minister announced that the limit of two million seats available for sale at the airport per year would be lifted. The cap on total aircraft movements [48,000] will remain.

Brian Ambrose, Chief Executive of George Best Belfast City Airport commenting on the removal of the cap said:
  "We welcome the Minister’s decision to remove the Seats for Sale restriction which allows us to forward plan with certainty helping safeguard the
  current workforce. The Seats for Sale restriction was based on the physical capacity of the old terminal building and had no relevance since we
  moved operations to the new terminal in 2001. The removal follows the airport fulfilling the requirements as set by the department with the
  installation of a noise and tracking monitoring system. The planning agreement, which caps flights at 48,000 in any 12 month period, provides a
  balance between protecting the interests of residents whilst ensuring the airport can develop within these boundaries and continue to contribute
  significantly to the local economy.”


Belfast City Airport Runway Extension

Runway Extension Proposal
In 2008 the Airport submitted plans [Z/2008/2306/F] to extend the runway by 590m towards Belfast Lough to the north east end of the existing runway, away from the city centre. The application also involved the retraction of the runway by 120m at the south west [city end] of the runway. The new runway proposal would allow planes with heavier fuel loads to use the airport. Belfast City currently has a runway length of just 1829 metres which had led to Ryanair operating with payload restrictions of approximately 16 seats on each rotation. An extended runway will facilitate flights to a wider range of European destinations offering benefits to the local economy. The proposed £8m runway extension is to be entirely privately funded by the Airport and would receive no government funding. Belfast City Airport have stated that the runway extension and associated works could be constructed within six months if given the go ahead.

Runway Extension Opposition
The application has faced opposition from residents living in East Belfast who claim that noise pollution will increase if the runway is extended. There have been 1,486 letters of objection and petitions with 499 names and 2,241 letters of support sent to the government over the scheme. Since 2008 no decision has been made and a public inquiry is due to commence in 2011.

Runway Extension Public Inquiry
Following the announcement of a public inquiry in March 2010 the Airport warned that the £8m development plan to extend the runway was being put at risk due to the slow progress being made and the delay of years that an inquiry would have on the project. The proposed £8m runway extension is to be entirely privately funded by the Airport and would receive no government funding however the airport has warned that an inquiry would cost millions of pounds of public money. In August 2010 the inquiry was delayed when a dispute arose over the noise pollution report submitted by the airport.

Runway Extension Myths

More Flights:
  There cannot be more flights as the number of air traffic movements is governed by a Planning Agreement that restricts the airport to 45,000 air traffic movements in any 12 consecutive months.

Night time flights:
  There can be no flights after 9:30pm except in special circumstances, and after midnight the airport shuts completely as all flights are prohibited until 6:30am. This is covered by the Planning Agreement with the Airport and is unaffected by the runway extension.

Larger planes:
  No wide bodied planes are permitted to use Belfast City Airport. The same planes Ryanair operated and Easyjet currently operate will be used for any potential European destinations.