Aer Lingus Regional, has revealed plans to improve connectivity between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. The Irish airline is now the largest operator out of Belfast City.
The collapse of Flybe in early March, as the coronavirus crisis was starting to affect aviation, took with it around 80 per cent of all flights at the east Belfast airport.
Some of the 14 routes vacated by the regional carrier have already been snapped up by Scottish airline Loganair, Eastern Airways and British Airways’ subsidiary City Flyer.
The first link, on 27 August, is to Edinburgh, with services to Exeter beginning the following day.
Flights to Manchester and Birmingham will operate from 14 September. On 1 October, routes to East Midlands and Leeds Bradford will open.
Brian Ambrose, chief executive of the Belfast airport, said: “Despite an extremely challenging environment, we’re delighted that Aer Lingus is to establish a new base and significantly enhance its UK network from Belfast City. As an island off an island, air connectivity with the rest of UK is critical to enabling the Northern Ireland economy’s recovery.”
