BUDGET airline easyJet grew its passenger numbers from Belfast International Airport by 4.2 per cent last year while its load factor - that's bums on seats - is now close to 90 per cent.
Operating to 26 destinations from Aldergrove, it carried 3.7 million passengers in the 12-month period to September - up from 3.5m a year earlier.
And Sophie Dekkers, easyJet's director of UK market, believes the numbers will remain on an upwards trajectory despite current concerns over the impact on both the travel and leisure sectors of the Paris terror attacks.
"Obviously our thoughts are with those affected, but we have dealt with such events before and it is typically a short-term impact, weeks rather than months," she said.
Overall easyJet revealed bumper pre-tax profits of £681 million for the 12 months to the end of September, in line with its upgraded guidance.
This is up £105 million on last year and represents the fifth straight year of record profits.
The airline also carried an additional four million passengers during the 12-month period to reach a total of 68.6 million.
Ms Dekkers said the Belfast-specific figures were hugely encouraging, which she attributed to customer loyalty allied to the carrier's ongoing programme to mix-up the routes.
"In the last year we've introduced Split and Reykjavik from Aldergrove and just last week Lanzarote started, with Lyon to follow next month.
"And although there's nothing we can confirm at the moment, there'll be new routes from Belfast to other destinations in 2016."
But she wouldn't comment on speculation that Copenhagen and a city in Germany are on easyJet's radar right now.
EasyJet, which is the north's biggest airline, only has five aircraft permanently based at Aldergrove, with it is the equivalent of 13 given the number of mainly domestic movements on a daily basis.
The company also has 59 cockpit crew and another 155 cabin crew based in Northern Ireland.
EasyJet chief executive Carolyn McCall said the airline's outlook for the longer term remained positive and she expects demand in its markets to be sustained.
"We will see passenger growth of 7 per cent a year, sustaining margins through rigorous cost control and the benefit of fleet up-gauging, resulting in positive profit momentum," she said.
"We remain totally focused on our network advantage, digital leadership and offering our customers great low fares and service.
"We continue to invest in profitable growth, ensuring our digital advantage and giving our customers good-value fares."
