1917–1945 B-24 Liberators in Belfast, c.1943
BAe ATP in Belfast, 1994 The airport lies within the
parish of Killead, between the small villages of Killead (to the east) and Aldergrove (to the west). The site for the airport was established in 1917, when it was selected to be a
Royal Flying Corps (RFC) training establishment during the
First World War. The airport remained open at the end of the war for RAF activity. Civil traffic began in 1922, when flights were conducted to fly newspapers from
Chester. The first scheduled passenger service was started in 1933 by the Scottish airline
Midland & Scottish Air Ferries. This service consisted of two daily flights each way between Aldergrove and
Renfrew Airport,
Glasgow. This was subsequently augmented by a twice-daily, return service to
Croydon, at that time London's airport, with stops at the
Isle of Man,
Liverpool and
Birmingham. During the
Second World War, Aldergrove remained an RAF station particularly for the
Coastal Command. So that the airport could accommodate larger, long-range aircraft, a major works programme was undertaken to replace the four existing runways with two new long paved runways, thereby forming the basis of the layout that still exists at the airport today.
1946–1970 One of the outcomes of the wartime airfield construction programme was the building of
Nutts Corner Airport, just from Aldergrove. On 1 December 1946, the new site replaced Belfast Harbour Airport (now
George Best Belfast City Airport) as Northern Ireland's civil airport, as the Harbour Airport was considered unsuitable. By the 1950s civil air traffic had outstripped the facilities at Nutts Corner and aircraft were being regularly diverted to Aldergrove because of adverse weather conditions. In July 1959 the decision was made to move civil flights to Aldergrove to take advantage of the large airfield and this took place in October 1963. A new
terminal and
apron were built, with the necessary passenger facilities, and the complex was opened by
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother on 28 October 1963. The first regular jet service to
London–Gatwick started in 1966, and in 1968 Aer Lingus and
BOAC introduced scheduled services to
New York City via
Shannon and
Prestwick respectively.
1971–1999 In 1971, Northern Ireland Airports Limited was formed to operate and develop the airport and its facilities. A major programme of airfield upgrades was undertaken, resulting in improvements to runways,
taxiways and the parking apron. A new International Pier was built together with lounge facilities and car parks, while an additional apron was provided to separate the smaller
general aviation aircraft from large
commercial jets. In the meantime,
British Airways launched the first Belfast to
London–Heathrow shuttle service and the first
Boeing 747 operated from the airport on a charter service to Toronto via Shannon. The first scheduled service to a European city was started by NLM Cityhopper (now
KLM Cityhopper) flying to
Amsterdam. In 1983 the airport, renamed Belfast International, was regularly accommodating the largest civil aircraft in service and with the installation of new technology was capable of all-weather operations. In 1985, passenger numbers reached 1.5million and
British Midland International (BMI) went into competition with
British Airways on the
London–Heathrow service. Further developments to the terminal occurred throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, extending the terminal's landside and airside area. A new Executive Aviation Terminal was also opened in 1987 and the new cargo centre opened in 1991. The airport was privatised in 1994.
TBI became the new owner of the airport on 13 August 1996, by which time annual passenger numbers had reached 2.5million. In 1998,
easyJet started operations from the airport with flights to
London–Luton. Since then the airline has established a large base at Belfast International and a further twelve domestic routes and twenty-three direct
European scheduled routes have been added to the network, making the airline the largest user of the airport.
Development since 2000 In 2005,
Continental Airlines launched the first ever nonstop scheduled service to
Newark; this continued to operate under the
United Airlines brand until the route's termination in January 2017. In July 2013, it was confirmed that
abertis would sell Belfast International Airport,
Stockholm Skavsta Airport &
Orlando Sanford International Airport to ADC & HAS based in the United States. In February 2015 the airport re-opened the viewing gallery that had been closed for 10 years which provides a view of the
apron and the runways that serve the airport. It also includes live ATC, arrival and departure boards, and a live flight radar screen. However, this was later closed again in October 2019. In 2014, news emerged of talks between the airport and
Turkish Airlines. This could have led to a service linking Belfast into the worldwide Turkish route network, but did not materialise. From 2015,
Virgin Atlantic offered weekly services to
Orlando using
Boeing 747-400 aircraft with occasional services provided by the airline's
Airbus A330 fleet. These flights served tourist traffic during the summer months (typically June - August). The service was suspended with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to date has not returned.
Ryanair opened a base at the airport in 2016, initially operating flights to nine destinations. The airline said it would carry 1.1million passengers a year out of the airport. In 2017 and 2018,
Norwegian Air Shuttle operated long-haul services to
Newburgh and
Providence. In April 2018,
Vinci Airports acquired an airport portfolio held by Airports Worldwide (previously named ADC & HAS), with the transaction expected to close later that year, Vinci Airports became the new owner of Belfast International Airport. In 2018, there were further suggestions of an international carrier providing access to a global network. This time
Qatar Airways was mooted, but again, any such proposal did not come to fruition.
Thomas Cook Airlines had a seasonal base at the airport, until their collapse in September 2019. They operated routes to Europe and some other destinations, operated by an
Airbus A321 aircraft. Every July, they operated long-haul flights from Belfast to
Cancún and
Orlando, operated by their
Airbus A330 aircraft. In August 2021,
Ryanair announced they would be ending its operations at both of Belfast's airports. In July 2022,
Ryanair announced that they will be returning to Belfast International Airport, in addition to opening a base. In summer 2023, work began on a significant terminal expansion, to accommodate new security scanning equipment. This is to be operational by summer 2024. In February 2025, a new duty free under the Aelia Duty Free brand was announced, being operated by
Lagardère Travel Retail, concessions in the duty free include Discover Belfast,
Jo Malone London,
MINISO and
Charlotte Tilbury Beauty. The duty free opened on 3 April 2025, replacing a previous duty free in the airport. In May 2025, First Minister
Michelle O'Neill and deputy First Minister
Emma Little-Pengelly officially opened the first phase of a £100million investment programme into the airport by its owners. This included a new security hall, which upgrades mean that passengers no longer have to remove liquids or electronics from their hand luggage. ==Airlines and destinations==