Transport
Sectors
Key Transport facts:
Four airports deal with almost 40 million passengers a year;
Dublin airport is 90 minutes by car to Belfast;
Belfast’s two airports deal with 7 million passengers a year and have daily scheduled flights to destinations across the UK and Europe including London, Paris and Amsterdam;
City of Derry Airport has regularly scheduled services to GB destinations;
Belfast Harbour is the second busiest port on the island of Ireland;
160 ferry and freight sailings per week to Great Britain and Europe.
Airports
Belfast City Airport
George Best Belfast City Airport is a single-runway airport in adjacent to the Port of Belfast and is 3 mi (5 km) from Belfast City Centre. It shares the site with the Short Brothers/Bombardier aircraft manufacturing facility.
The airport began commercial operations in 1983, and was known as "Belfast City Airport" until it was renamed in 2006 in memory of George Best, the professional footballer from Belfast.
The airport primarily handles intra-UK flights. It handled over 2.4 million passengers in 2019, having peaked at 2.7 million in 2010.
The airport was a major base for Flybe which began operations at the airport in 1993, and was the largest operator at Belfast City until its demise in 2020.
Air Routes:
London–Heathrow
Southampton
Teesside
Amsterdam
Aberdeen
Carlisle
Dundee
Inverness
Website - www.belfastcityairport.com
Belfast International Airport
Formerly known as Aldergrove Airport, after the nearby village of Aldergrove, the Airport is Northern Ireland's busiest airport and the second-busiest airport on the island of Ireland after Dublin Airport.
In 2018, over 6.2 million passengers travelled through the airport, marking a 7.4% increase compared with 2017. It features flights to some European metropolitan and several leisure destinations as well as a seasonal route to Orlando in the United States.
Air Routes:
Alicante
Amsterdam
Birmingham
Bristol
Edinburgh
Faro
Glasgow
Isle of Man
KrakĂłw
Lanzarote
Liverpool
London–Gatwick
London–Luton
London–Stansted
Málaga
Manchester
Newcastle upon Tyne
Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Venice
Bergamo
website - www.belfastairport.com
City of Derry Airport
City of Derry Airport is a regional airport located 7 mi (11 km) northeast of Derry, Northern Ireland.
It is located on the south bank of Lough Foyle, a short distance from the village of Eglinton and 8 mi (13 km) from the city centre.
Loganair and Ryanair serve the airport, with scheduled domestic flights to five UK destinations.
Website - www.cityofderryairport.com
Dublin Airport
Dublin Airport is an international airport serving Dublin, the capital city of Ireland.
The airport is located 7 km (4.3 mi) north of Dublin, in Collinstown, near Swords, Dublin.
In 2019, 32.9 million passengers passed through the airport, making it the airport's busiest year on record.
It is the 12th busiest airport in Europe, and is by far the busiest of Ireland's airports by total passenger traffic; it also has the greatest traffic levels on the island of Ireland, followed by Belfast International Airport.
The airport has an extensive short and medium haul network, served by an array of carriers, as well as a significant long-haul network focused on North America, the Middle East and East Asia. It serves as the headquarters of Ireland's flag carrier – Aer Lingus, regional airline Stobart Air, Europe's largest low-cost carrier – Ryanair, and ASL Airlines Ireland, together with another two airlines, CityJet and Norwegian Air International.
United States border preclearance services are available at the airport for U.S.-bound passengers. Shannon Airport is the only other airport in Europe to offer this facility.
Belfast City centre is 90 minute drive from Dublin Airport on the M1 Motorway, which is adjacent to the Airport.
Website - www.dublinairport.com
Ground Transportation - Belfast
Europa Bus and Train Station
Great Victoria Street is a railway station serving the city centre of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is one of two major stations in the city, along with Lanyon Place, and is one of the four stations located in the city centre, the others being Lanyon Place, Botanic and City Hospital. It is situated near Great Victoria Street, one of Belfast's premier commercial zones, and Sandy Row. It is also in a more central position than Lanyon Place (ironically until September, 2018 named Belfast Central), with the Europa Hotel, Grand Opera House and The Crown Liquor Saloon all nearby.
Great Victoria Street station shares a site with Europa Buscentre, the primary bus station serving Belfast City Centre.
Europa Buscentre was built in 1991 as the ground floor level of a multi-storey car park.
The Buscentre is the Belfast terminus for most Ulsterbus "Goldline" services in Northern Ireland. These serve various destinations that are not on the railway network, Also, services from the Buscentre serve both Belfast City Airport and Belfast International Airport directly.
Ulsterbus runs joint services with Bus Éireann for its direct express service to Dublin and Dublin Airport, with National Express to Dumfries, Carlisle, Manchester, Birmingham, Milton Keynes and London, and with Citylink to Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Donegal Square - Metro Terminus
Donegall Square serves as the terminus for the majority of Citibus' Metro Services.
Donegall Place, the city's main shopping street, runs from the north side of the square.
Notable buildings on the square include Belfast City Hall, the Linen Hall Library and the Scottish Provident Building, now a five-star serviced office business centre.
The Ten Square Hotel on Donegall Square South was originally a Victorian linen warehouse. Its exterior features carved portholes, with the faces of George Washington, Sir Isaac Newton, Michelangelo and William Shakespeare protruding.
Airports and Ports in Northern Ireland