Northern Ireland has three commercial airports, with the Belfast being the main gateway. A third airport in operates in Derry.
George Best Belfast City Airport (airport code BHD): just 2 miles from Belfast city center, with magnificent views of the city of Belfast or Belfast Lough offered to passengers on approach and departure. The airport principally serves routes to domestic UK and Ireland, however bmi offers interline connections to its flights and those of the Star Alliance through Heathrow. These flights are code-shared with British Airways, therefore offering interline connections to its flights and those of the One World Alliance. Airlines using the airport include:
Aer Arann to Cork
bmi to London (Heathrow)
British Northwest Airlines to Blackpool and the Isle of Man (Ronaldsway)
flybe to Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bristol, Doncaster Sheffield (Robin Hood), Edinburgh, Exeter, Galway, Glasgow, Guernsey, Jersey, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool (John Lennon), London (Gatwick), Newcastle, Paris (Charles-de-Gaulle), Southampton, Manchester, Newquay and Rennes.
The terminal is served every twenty to thirty minutes from 06.00 - 22.00 by the 600 Airport bus (£1.30 single, £2.20 return). Depending on traffic, the journey to Belfast's Laganside and Europa Buscentres should take no more than fifteen minutes. Ask at the airport information desk for a free shuttle ride to the near-by Sydenham railway station for trains towards Bangor, Belfast and Portadown. Considering the airport's proximity to the city, taxis cost less than £10 to most parts of the city and are an economical choice for small groups.
is an hourly shuttle from Belfast's two airports to Londonderry/Derry. The journey to Belfast City Airport takes roughly a two hours.
Belfast International Airport (airport code BFS) Locally known as Aldergrove (after the Royal Air Force base that has been there up until recently since before the commercial airport was constructed), the International Airport is further away from Belfast than the City Airport (but is close to the town of Antrim) and offers significantly more international destinations.
Aer Lingus to Amsterdam, Arrecife, Barcelona, Budapest, Geneva, Faro, London-Heathrow, Malaga, Milan, Munich, Nice, Paris (Charles-de-Gaulle) and Rome (Fiumincino)
Air Transat to Toronto (Hamilton)
bmibaby to Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and Nottingham (East Midlands)
Continental Airlines to New York (Newark)
Easyjet to Alicante, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin Schoenefeld, Bristol, Edinburgh, Faro, Gdansk, Geneva, Glasgow, Ibiza, Krakow, Liverpool (John Lennon), London (Gatwick), London (Luton), London (Stansted), Malaga,Malta, Manchester, Newcastle, Nice, Palma-de-Mallorca, Paris (Charles-de-Gaulle), Prague, Rome (Ciampino) and Venice
Jet2 to Barcelona, Blackpool, Chambery, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Leeds (Bradford), Malaga, Milan (Bergamo), Murcia, Palma-de-Mallorca, Pisa, Prague, Tenerife (South) and Toulouse
Manx2 to the Isle of Man (Ronaldsway)
Wizz Air to Warsaw and Katowice
The terminal is served up to thirty minutes from 05.35 - 23.20 by the 300 Airport bus (£6 single, £9 return) to Belfast Laganside and Europa Buscentres. Depending on traffic, the journey to Belfast's Laganside and Europa Buscentres takes about forty-five minutes. Taxis should cost no more than £25-£30 to Belfast City Centre.
You can also do it a much cheaper way By Taking the 109A (hourly service Monday to Saturday) ULSTERBUS service to Antrim from the stand outside airport ,(Bus/Train Station which costs £2.60 one wayby bus ) then once you get off the bus in Antrim Go up the steps into the ajoining Train station and buy a Ticket to Belfast Great Victoria street station the train stops in Mossley west /Belfast Central/ Botanic /City Hospital then Great Victoria street which is combined with europa Bus centre Great Victoria street is on the same name street in Belfast and is much more "Central" than Central station and is around the corner from city hall which is 10 mins away by foot. Check www.translink.co.uk for timetables for both Bus and rail Journeys by typing in 109A into search or click on Timetables for Ulsterbus and NI railways you will need the Londonderry-Coleraine -Ballymena-Antrim-Belfast Time table trains are usually every other Hour to Belfast so you might have to wait awhile at the station.
is an hourly shuttle from Belfast's two airports to Londonderry/Derry. The journey to Belfast International takes ninety minutes.
City of Derry Airport (airport code LDY) an airport serving Derry, Tyrone, and Donegal in the Republic of Ireland.
Aer Arann to Cork (via Dublin) and Dublin.
Ryanair to Alicante, Birmingham, Faro, Glasgow (Prestwick), Liverpool, London (Stansted) and Tenerife (South).
Ulsterbus operates various scheduled services to and from the airport to the main Foyle Street bus depot in the City. Services also operate to and from Limavady. For details of Ulsterbus bus services visit www.translink.co.uk. The typical fare to the city centre is £2.70 and the journey takes approximately 20-30 minutes.
Taxis are available from the airport, with the typical fares to the city centre around £12, with the journey taking roughly 15 minutes.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Northern Ireland
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Northern Ireland - updated May 2024
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Northern Ireland Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
