THE number of airline passengers in Northern Ireland has fallen at two of the three main airports.
The latest Civil Aviation Authority figures show that the passenger numbers for May were down at both Belfast City and City of Derry Airport on the same month last year. The number of passengers through the two terminals this year so far is also down on the 2016 figure.
In all there were 221,829 passengers through Belfast City Airport in May, a nine per cent reduction on May 2016, while up to May over 2.6 million passengers have used the airport this year, a fall of almost three per cent.
The figures at City of Derry Airport are more striking with a fall of 41 per cent in passenger numbers in May on the same month last year. In all 13,852 passengers passed through the airport and 258,802 have used it so far this year, a 10 per cent reduction on 2016.
In contrast Belfast International Airport saw a 19 per cent rise in passengers through the gates in May to 523,527. Meanwhile the numbers through the terminal so far this year are up by 20 per cent to almost 5.6 million.
THE CAA figures further show the number of flights at Belfast City Airport fell by 16 per cent in May on the 2016 figure to 3,282, while flights over the year so far are also down slightly by 3.5 per cent.
Both Belfast International and City of Derry Airports saw an increase of 14 per cent and 13 per cent respectively in flights operated in comparison to May 2016. However, while Belfast International has also recorded a six per cent increase in the number of flights so far this year (39,512) from 2016 the City of Derry Airport has seen a nine per cent fall.
The CAA collects statistics from more than 60 UK airports and publishes data on a monthly basis.
