GEORGE Best Belfast City Airport is inviting local businesses to participate in a survey from which the findings will assist in shaping future route networks from Northern Ireland.
The survey will explore the air travel habits and trends of the business community in Northern Ireland and will feed into the route development strategy at the airport, which was used last year by 2.7 million passengers.
Katy Best, commercial and marketing director at Belfast City Airport, said: “With over 50 per cent of our passengers travelling on business, catering to the desires and needs of the business community is incredibly important to us.
“A huge number of local companies have employees travelling on a monthly, bi-monthly, annually, weekly or even a daily basis.
"Information such as when business travellers fly, where they fly from, where they fly to, when they fly, where they would like to fly to, and their proximity to the airport is wholly valuable to airlines.
“These findings will document exactly where the demand lies and could therefore greatly assist in progressing a new airline’s decision to start a new route, but will be of equal interest to existing airlines when considering the timings and frequencies of specific routes."
A delegation from Belfast City Airport will be attending the World Routes Conference in Barcelona next month (the City Airport has been nominated for a World Routes Marketing Award), and the outcomes of this survey will assist in shaping its conversations with airlines, airports and destination marketing bodies.
Ms Best added: “We therefore believe this is a really beneficial body of work that will ensure Belfast City Airport continues to respond to customers demand and delivers a product and service that supports the strategic needs of local businesses.”
Those who participate in the survey will be entered into a draw to win flights to the Algarve this autumn.
The survey, which should take no longer than five minutes, can be accessed through belfastcityairport.com or the Belfast City Airport Facebook or Twitter pages.
