The UK Civil Aviation Authority has recently published statistics for the second quarter of 2026 for Northern Ireland’s three airports: Belfast International, Belfast City and the City of Derry. Following on from a solid opening three months, the second quarter of the year (April – June) has been another positive one for Northern Ireland’s three airports.
Table 1 presents the data for each of the airports for the three month period and although the overall picture is encouraging when compared to last year, it is worth noting that, for Belfast, 2025 was slightly down on the previous year, by around 55,000 passengers (2%).
Surprisingly, the much anticipated and predicted downturn in air travel, following the outbreak of war in Iran in February, has not really materialised in Northern Ireland. All three airports are well up on 2025 by a solid 4.3%. Some industry experts suspect the impact of the conflict in the middle east has yet to work through fully, so all eyes will be on ticket prices for the coming winter season. Table 2 shows an equally encouraging position for the first six months with traffic up +3.6% overall.
Passenger throughput at Belfast City has been particularly strong, up almost 80,000 on the same period last year. The harbour airport is currently working its way through an ambitious masterplan with an application to expand opening hours to 10.30 pm and permission to increase flights by 25%. The downtown facility has long campaigned to have restrictions lifted, including a runway extension, but will, once again, face opposition from various residents groups.
Belfast International will be relieved to be reporting a 2% increase in traffic, with a lot of its current £100 million investment already spent. Owners Vinci airports has recently reported that traffic across its portfolio ‘flatlined’ in the first six months, but that Belfast International has ‘bucked the trend’. The airport continues to see easyJet expanding its network with a recent announcement that the low cost carrier is to launch twice weekly services to Budapest and Aberdeen as part of its winter schedule.
In what has been hailed as a first in the UK, the airport has recently opened a new dedicated access parking area for passengers requiring assistance, by creating 236 Blue Badge bays. Disability groups have been particularly complimentary as the parking bays are located close to the terminal entrance. Also new to the airport this year has been the launch of services by the Dublin based charter airline Fly4, operating flights to Reus and Corfu for Tui travel.
On the subject of Dublin, there has been, as yet, no official news of the proposed Derry/Dublin service, expected to begin in late October. The thorny issue of APD may well become a stumbling block to progress as the UK government appears to be in no mood to waive the duty on the outbound leg from Derry. This will have an adverse impact on the market and will make the promoters job that more difficult.
The north-west airport has had a good opening half to 2026 and will be encouraged by the news that Marian Pilgrimages plan to increase the number of charters in 2027 along with Ryanair’s decision to increase frequency on its Manchester route.
On a more general note for Northern Ireland’s airports, there are reasons to be cheerful following confirmation last month that the UK government is taking powers to ensure regional connectivity and to oversee landing slots at major hub airports. This is the successful outcome of Ulster Unionist Peer Lord Empey’s fourteen year campaign to protect connectivity between Northern Ireland and Britain. With the demand for slots at the hub airports continuing to increase, Northern Ireland would have been vulnerable. That lack of state protection has now been recognised and addressed.
Images were courtesy of Jacob Bushe, Michael Savekin, Canice F. Brankin and Airside NI.
