Belfast International Airport

To add to Belfast International Airport’s woes, what is going on with Easyjet?

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2018 has been a difficult year for Belfast International Airport. First, the facility faced criticism over its sponsorship of the DUP’s annual North Antrim dinner in February – a Brexit-themed event with Eurosceptic Tory MP Priti Patel as guest speaker (three months after she’d been forced to resign from the UK government for breaching the Ministerial Code). Curiously, Belfast International is based in Antrim South constituency, and not in Ian Paisley Jnr’s North Antrim fiefdom. Then in May came the …

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Aldergrove in the 1970s: no hand baggage, no overnighting BA crews, no aerosols #20YearRule

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ALDERGROVE SECURITY restrictions banned non-passengers from the terminal after terrorist attacks in the early 1970s. BA pilots and crews refused to stay overnight in Belfast and instead flew to Glasgow. BMI crews did sleepover. And journalist Chris Ryder’s letters of complaint about aerosol cans turn up in the recently declassified files.

Belfast International Airport MD: “Am absolutely spitting useless faceless EU bureaucrats…”

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As ever, the significant part of the story behind United Airlines’ decision to end the Belfast-New York route – despite an “irregular” three year NI Executive £9 million rescue deal – lies, not in the headline, but in the details.   The first point to make, given the positioning of some parties on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, is that the airline’s decision comes after the European Commission blocked the rescue package under state aid rules.  AS the BBC report …

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£9 million on a single flight, most of it from Stormont

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Without too much fanfare, during the summer recess it was announced that United Airlines had been considering withdrawing the Belfast International – Newark route from service. The airline had previously made a decision to cancel the route from January to March of 2015. Discussions took place between United Airlines, Belfast International Airport officials, the British Government and the NI Executive and the decision was made to retain the route, at least for the next 3 years. As the Irish News reported …

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