Early years Sydenham Airport was established by
Shorts beside its Belfast factory at
Sydenham in 1937. It was opened on 16 March 1938 by
Anne Chamberlain, the wife of then British Prime Minister,
Neville Chamberlain. The inaugural flight was to
Glasgow, Scotland. This became Belfast's main civilian airport from 1938 to 1939. The airfield was requisitioned by the
RAF as
RAF Belfast in 1941, then transferred to the
Royal Navy, becoming
HMS Gadwall (also known as RNAS Belfast or RNAS Sydenham) in 1943.
RAF Nutts Corner then became Belfast's main airport (while
Aldergrove would later become the primary airport in Northern Ireland). In 1952, the runway was extended to its present . including a period of use by the Fleet Air Arm as a naval aircraft storage unit. After this, it was used solely by Shorts. In 1983, following interest from airlines and customers, the airfield was opened for commercial flights as
Belfast Harbour Airport (subsequently
Belfast City Airport and then with its current name). Its
IATA airport code BHD refers to
Belfast Harbour and to its location in
County Down.
Jersey European began operations at the airport in 1988. At the time of its demise in 2020, the airline - by then called Flybe - operated a large base from the airport.
Development from 2000 to 2020 A new terminal was officially opened on 3 June 2001. the owner of
BAA Airports. Ferrovial re-sold the airport in September 2008 for £132.5 million to
ABN Amro Global Infrastructure Fund. In March 2006, it was announced that the airport would be renamed in memory of Northern Irish
footballer George Best. The new name,
George Best Belfast City Airport, and signage were revealed at the renaming ceremony attended by Best's family and friends on 22 May 2006, which would have been Best's 60th birthday. The renaming of the airport caused controversy, with many articles in local and national print media highlighting the mixed feelings of Belfast residents. Also in March 2006 Flybe announced that it would be naming its Belfast City –
Manchester service after the footballer, dedicating a plane to him. In October 2007
Ryanair established its 23rd base at the airport, operating five routes and carrying 800,000 annual passengers. The airline closed its Belfast City base in 2010 due to delays in the planned runway extension. The airline stated that it would fly to European destinations from the airport if the runway was extended. In January 2010
easyJet commenced flights to
London Luton, though the airline moved the route back to
Belfast International in 2011.
Manx2 moved its Isle of Man service to the airport in 2010, however the airline has since ceased operations. In January 2011
Bmibaby moved its Belfast base to the airport, in order to keep its operation under one roof with sister airline
BMI. The airline ceased operations from Belfast City Airport in June 2012. In October 2012 Aer Lingus moved its services from Belfast International to the airport. The airline launched flights to five destinations, though it has since reduced their operations to just one route. Spanish carrier
Vueling launched summer-seasonal flights to
Barcelona in May 2015, though the route was cancelled in late 2015. Dutch carrier
KLM launched daily flights to
Amsterdam in 2015, with flights operated by
KLM Cityhopper.
Brussels Airlines launched flights to
Brussels in 2016, though the airline axed the route in 2017. In early 2017,
Eastern Airways commenced flights to the Isle of Man following the demise of
Citywing, though the airline axed the route in 2018. Icelandic carrier
Air Iceland Connect commenced flights to
Keflavik in 2017 on behalf of
Icelandair, though the route was cancelled in 2018. Scottish airline
Loganair commenced operations to
Carlisle in 2019, followed by
Dundee in 2020.
2020 to present Flybe, which operated 80% of flights at the airport, and carried over 1.6 million passengers across 14 routes, ceased operations in March 2020. Subsequently,
Loganair commenced flights to
Aberdeen,
Glasgow, and
Inverness, while
Eastern Airways commenced flights to
Cardiff and
Southampton. In addition,
British Airways subsidiary
BA CityFlyer commenced flights to
London City during 2020. In August 2020,
Aer Lingus subsidiary
Aer Lingus Regional established a new base at the airport, operating five aircraft to six UK destinations. In June 2021, Aer Lingus Regional operator
Stobart Air ceased operations, leading to the cancellation of all Aer Lingus Regional flights. Aer Lingus and British Airways commenced flights to the majority of Aer Lingus Regional's destinations from Belfast City Airport. Ryanair resumed flying from the airport after a hiatus of around 11 years, on 1 June 2021, but announced in late August 2021 that it would withdraw from Northern Ireland altogether in September 2021, in protest at the UK's Air Passenger Duty, and the lack of post-Covid incentives for airlines. In March 2022,
Emerald Airlines, the new operator of Aer Lingus Regional flights, announced that they would be opening a base at the airport. Initially with a base of three ATR-72-600 aircraft, Emerald plan on serving six UK destinations from 24 March 2022 under the
Aer Lingus brand, with Aer Lingus itself operating the London Heathrow route. On 16 March 2022, the new Flybe announced that the airport would become their second operating base following their spring relaunch, with flights going on sale the following week. The base was closed in January 2023 when Flybe 2.0 went into administration. In October 2022, it was announced that Aer Lingus operations between Belfast City and
London Heathrow would transfer to Aer Lingus UK due to Brexit related requirements that a European carrier could no longer fly domestic routes within the
United Kingdom. These flights are operated by
British Airways under
wet-lease terms using the Aer Lingus UK flight numbers and callsigns. This currently does not affect the operations carried out by
Emerald Airlines from Belfast City as an agreement is currently in place between the
UK CAA, British Airways and themselves prior to Emerald Airlines securing a UK AOC. In July 2024, the airport launched an advertising campaign, new website, and logo featuring the name 'Belfast City Airport,' omitting 'George Best' from its branding. The airport later clarified that while the campaign excluded his name, the signage above the door remained unchanged, and its official business name and airport registration would continue as 'George Best Belfast City Airport'. ==Expansion plans and objections==