Travel News July/August 2016
ELFAST International Airport is gearing up for what it says will be ‘a summer like no other summer we’ve ever experienced’. Between July 4 and July 13, Belfast International expects to see almost 200,000 passengers through its doors – an increase of more than 30,000 or 15 per cent on last year. The airport is set to re-join the ‘Top Ten’ airports in the UK with double-digit monthly passenger growth. Unconfirmed May and June passenger figures were up 16 per cent and the expectation is that this trend will continue.
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Airlines are flying to more holiday destinations than ever this summer and charter operators Thomson, Thomas Cook and Virgin Atlantic are also reporting a surge in numbers. Passenger traffic on services to Gatwick and other major GB airports are also up substantially.
Belfast International Airport Managing Director, Graham Keddie, said: “In reality, the summer rush started last month with the ‘airlift’ of the ‘Green and White Army’ in support of Northern Ireland in Euro 2016 in France. Fourteen charters and packed scheduled services bound for mainland Europe saw a phenomenal increase in passenger numbers. “We’re now in our busiest holiday period when with more than 100 flights a-day, we will see a non-stop stream of passengers in and out of the Terminal. Favourite destinations this year are the usual favourites, Malaga and Alicante.
“We’ve taken on additional part-time staff and service providers such as ICTS and Swissport have boosted staffing levels to cope with the summer rush. This will be a summer like no other we’ve ever experienced. All our airlines – easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair, Wizz Air - are doing their bit with additional capacity and our retail and food and bar outlets are reporting record business.
READY FOR THE SUMMER RUSH...
UPDA 3TE
“This summer’s place in the record books will be easily overtaken in 2017 when more than a dozen new destinations on our Display Screens will easily overtake this year’s performance. And with that will come hundreds of more jobs and new business opportunities in the airline and airport supply chains. ”Katy Best, Commercial and Marketing Director at George Best Belfast City Airport said: “The summer period is one of our busiest at Belfast City Airport. This summer we are expecting approximately 10,500 passengers to travel through the terminal every day. “We were recently named the sixth most convenient airport in the world, and the most convenient airport in the UK and Ireland by The Telegraph. This is a huge advantage for our customers and we are keen to build upon this further by making sure our passengers have a smooth, enjoyable journey through the terminal as they head off on their summer holidays. “We have seen heightened demand across our network for summer 2016, particularly on the European services but also our domestic routes. This summer Aer Lingus significantly increased frequency on our direct flights to Faro, Malaga and Palma, and introduced its five times weekly service to Alicante which has been extremely popular with consistently high load factors.
“Following the launch of KLM’s daily direct service to Amsterdam in 2015, Brussels Airlines began its five times weekly service to the Belgian capital this year. As is the case with KLM, this route is being used not only for point to point traffic but also by those wishing to connect to other destinations throughout mainland Europe and even further afield. Belfast City Airport remains the only airport in Northern Ireland to facilitate direct air access to London Heathrow, with Aer Lingus facilitating additional capacity on the service over the summer months.”
Virgin crew take a selfie at Belfast International Airport recently Virgin doubles its Orlando flights
BELFAST International Airport says the decision by Virgin Atlantic to double the number of flights from Northern Ireland to Orlando in June and July next year is a real vote of confidence in the local market. From June 2017, two flights per week will depart for the ‘Sunshine State’ bringing to eight the total number of direct flights to operate over the ensuing peak summer four-week period.
In all, more than 3,500 holiday-makers from Northern Ireland will use the popular carrier. Demand in the initial two years of service from Belfast has been buoyant with the result that the airline had no hesitation in expanding the service. Virgin Atlantic will tomorrow (Thursday) commence its direct service to Orlando which will see the airline operating four flights over the next 4 weeks.
Belfast International Airport Business Development Director, Uel Hoey, said: “There was enormous excitement around the debut of nonstop flights last year
from Belfast with Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays and the weight of demand has exceeded all preliminary expectations.
“The International Airport is delighted that Virgin has taken this decision, which is a real vote of confidence in the Northern Ireland market. There is strong business here for a combination of quality airline service and an unwaveringly popular leisure destination, as is evident through both customer uptake and feedback from research.
“The return of the Virgin Atlantic 747-400 which can carry 440 passengers, on a greater scale than before, is most welcome. We are experiencing solid double-digit growth in passenger numbers and, alongside our other airlines, Virgin Atlantic is helping to drive that business.
“Hundreds of new jobs have been created and many more will follow as we continue to expand our base in the second half of this year and next.”
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