George Best Belfast City Airport (BHD)

George Best Belfast City Airport

George Best Belfast City Airport represents a single-runway property in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Established in County Down, it is near to the Port of Belfast and is located three miles from Belfast City Centre. The facility shares the place with the Short Brothers/Bombardier aircraft manufacturing property. The airport started commercial operations in 1983 and was known as “Belfast City Airport” until it was renamed in 2006 in memory of George Best, the professional football player from Belfast. The property includes a CAA public use aerodrome license (number P862) that permits flights for the public transport of travelers or flying instruction.

George Best Belfast City Airport

The terminal primarily handles intra-UK flights. It provided services for over 2.4 million passengers in 2019, but the peak was in 2010, estimated at 2.7 million. The property operated as a major base for Flybe, which started operations at the airport in 1993 and was the biggest operator at Belfast City until 2020. The facility also served as a base for Aer Lingus from 2012 until 2019.

Early years

Shorts built Sydenham Airport alongside its Belfast factory at Sydenham in 1937. It was opened in 1938 by Anne Chamberlain, who was the wife of then British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain. The inaugural flight happened to Glasgow, Scotland. This became the main civilian Airport in Belfast from 1938 to 1939. The Royal Navy requisitioned the property in the period of WWII. The name was changed to HMS Gadwall. RAF Nutts Corner then became the primary Airport of Belfast.

In 1952, the runway was lengthened to its present 6,000 feet (1,800 m). The Sydenham airfield continued to serve military purposes until the 1970s.

In 1983, following interest from customers and airlines, the airfield was opened for commercial flights as Belfast Harbour Airport.

Development from 2000 to 2010

A new terminal was formally opened in 2001. Following the significant capital investment, Bombardier sold the property in 2003 for £35 million to the Spanish company Ferrovial, which re-sold it in September 2008 for £132.5 million to ABN Amro Global Infrastructure Fund.

In 2006, it was stated that the facility would be renamed in honor of Northern Irish footballer George Best. The renaming of the airport provoked controversy, with many articles in national and local print media due to the mixed responses of Belfast residents.

In 2007, Ryanair set its 23rd base at BHD, operating five routes and carrying 800,000 passengers annually. The airline shut down its Belfast City base in 2010 due to delays in the planned runway extension. The airline announced that it would fly to European destinations if the runway were extended.

In 2010, easyJet started flights to London Luton, though the airline moved the route back to Belfast International in 2011.

Development since 2011

In 2011, Bmibaby relocated its Belfast base to BHD, to keep its operation under close to the sister airline BMI. The airline stopped operations from the Airport in June 2012.

In 2012, Aer Lingus relocated its services from BHD to the airport. The airline started flights to five destinations, though it has since decreased its operations to just one route. Spanish carrier Vueling began summer-seasonal flights to Barcelona in 2015, but the same year the route was canceled. Scottish airline Loganair began operations to Carlisle in 2019, followed by Dundee in 2020. Flybe, which operated 80% of flights and carried over 1.6 million passengers across 14 routes, stopped operations in March 2020. Consequently, Loganair started flights to Aberdeen and Inverness.

George Best Belfast City Airport

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