Business

EasyJet to to ramp up activity further at Belfast City Airport

EasyJet to launch new Manchester and London Luton flights from Belfast City Airport

EasyJet aircrafts will increasingly active at Belfast City Airport this summer.
EasyJet aircrafts will increasingly active at Belfast City Airport this summer. EasyJet aircrafts will increasingly active at Belfast City Airport this summer.

EASYJET is set to continue its expansion at Belfast City Airport with new routes to London Luton and Manchester this summer.

The budget carrier ended a ten-year absence at the City Airport in 2021 by launching a new service to Gatwick.

Last year it added routes to Liverpool, Bristol and Glasgow.

EasyJet is set to further ramp at Belfast City, with new routes to Manchester and London Luton understood to be high on the agenda for this summer.

It's also expected to increase the activity of its popular Gatwick connection to three daily flights.

It will make EasyJet the second biggest airline at the airport behind Aer Lingus regional operator, Emerald Airlines, which will cover 13 routes this summer.

The move is not expected to involve EasyJet downgrading operations at Belfast International Airport, where it remains the anchor airline.

In fact, EasyJet is preparing to add an eighth aircraft to its base at Belfast International Airport this summer.

Ali Gayward, EasyJet's UK country manager told The Irish News last November that the airline’s plans involve expanding at both airports in 2023.

Launched in 1995, EasyJet commenced flights in Northern Ireland during 1998. In the past 25 years it has grown to the north’s largest airline flying around 70 million passengers in that time.

It currently flies to around three dozen destinations from Aldergrove.

The carrier previously experimented at Belfast City Airport, launching flights to London Luton in 2010.

The experiment ended in 2011, with the carrier waiting another decade to try again.

EasyJet’s Gatwick service was Belfast City Airport’s second busiest flight during 2022, carrying just over 165,000 passengers.

The expected return of the Luton connection follows the latest collapse of Flybe and the loss of Aer Lingus, which was forced to pull the plug at Belfast City Airport due to Brexit-related regulatory changes for EU airlines operating domestic flights within the UK.

Both Flybe and Aer Lingus had operated flights from Belfast City to Heathrow.

London was by far the most popular destination from the airport last year.

Emerald Airlines is currently the only carrier on the Belfast City to Manchester route.

EasyJet was contacted for comment. The airline said it expects to confirm increased capacity at both Belfast City and Belfast International airports in a network announcement expected on Tuesday.