Northern Ireland’s Airports – Statistics for Q1 2025

By Declan Hasson

The CAA has recently published statistics for Quarter 1 (2025) for Northern Ireland’s three airports, Belfast International, Belfast City and the City of Derry.

The first three months of 2025 have seen a 3.4% increase in passenger numbers at Northern Ireland’s three airports, when compared to 2024. More significantly, it is the first quarter in which all three airports have managed to exceed the 2019 levels of business – a success story in itself.

The pre-pandemic year’s opening quarter saw a total traffic figure of 1,915,350. The 2025 opening quarter has come in marginally higher at 1,954,522, an increase of just 2%. The struggle to return to some form of normality in commercial aviation has been particularly difficult in Northern Ireland.

The International airport, which accounts for around 70% of all passengers has benefitted somewhat from much needed investment in recent months. Airport owner Vinci is spending almost £100 million on landside upgrades, with a new Security scanning system, a new Duty Free area and a new Arrivals Hall.

Although business is up 2.8% as against last year, the pressure will be on to maintain growth. In the full year of 2024, traffic was down on four key domestic routes, namely Gatwick, Luton, Glasgow and Bristol. The airport may well be relying on the charter and holiday market to deliver future growth. There is certainly a most impressive list of holiday destinations on offer for this year alone.

Belfast City has also exceeded the 2019 target figure for its first quarter, by just 2.1%, but is only marginally up on last year, by 1%. However, the one important caveat is that Easter fell much earlier last year, with Good Friday falling on the 29th March 2024. For many airports, the week running up to Easter can be very busy. Traditionally, Good Friday is a bumper day for most airport terminals and that should be reflected in the April figures for this year.

Belfast City, the UK’s most punctual airport for a second year in a row, has recently reported a big 159% uplift in international bookings on its Amsterdam route operated by KLM. The Dutch airline doubled its daily frequency late last year and has stated that much of its growth is coming from passengers transiting through the Amsterdam hub. Amsterdam is the only scheduled European route out of Belfast City and has been operating continually for ten years. Symbolically, it is very important to the harbour facility.

The City of Derry airport has experienced a welcome improvement in its fortunes since the start of the year. The arrival of easyJet in November has boosted numbers significantly, albeit from a low base. However, the net result has seen passenger throughput increase +10.4% over the “benchmark” year 2019 and a hefty +75.6% up on last year. As a clear vote of confidence in the City of Derry, easyJet recently confirmed that it is to take over the Birmingham route, vacated by Ryanair, in the autumn. easyJet is set to become City of Derry’s main operating airline by the year end, providing scheduled flights to Edinburgh, Liverpool as well as Birmingham.

After a lot of uncertainty in recent years about the airport’s long term future, the Northern Ireland Department of the Economy announced in April that it would underwrite the costs of running the airport until 2029 – up to £3 million per annum. This has removed a huge burden from management at the loss making facility. Although the funding relates to operational expenditure and not capital, it does at least allow the authorities to concentrate more fully on developing the core business and any ancillary income streams. In more positive news for the airport, it has just been announced that the PSO route to Heathrow, operated by Loganair, is being funded for another two years.

There has also been renewed speculation that the Derry/ Dublin route may be reinstated on a PSO basis in 2026. In its best years, the Dublin service carried around 12,000 passengers per annum, not a huge number, but important as it will be a link to an ever growing hub airport.

Airport operators, until now mindful of the pressures of reaching pre-pandemic levels of business, can at last move on, now that the long road to recovery has been travelled. Indications are that the current quarter looks positive for all three Northern Ireland airports.

Industry experts feel cautiously optimistic about the full year ahead, predicting modest levels of growth. Falling oil prices since the start of the year is one reason for hope. Observers will be watching closely if that starts translating into lower air fares in the months ahead.

Main photo above by Michael McElroy. Text by Declan Hasson

Number of Passengers Handled by Northern Irelands Airports For Q1 2019,2024 and 2025