Belfast Aldergrove International Airport Arrivals (BFS)

Belfast International Airport is an important transport hub in Northern Ireland, and is part of the airports of the United Kingdom. It is the second busiest airport in Ireland, behind Dublin Airport, and is larger than the airports of Cork and Shannon. This airport is recognised by its official IATA code of BFS, and is otherwise known by its former name of the Aldergrove Airport. Flights at Belfast International Airport arrive from a wide variety of local and international destinations, and the airport’s arrival area is well equipped for it’s passengers. Several important and well-know airline companies serve the airport, including Aer Lingus, for which Belfast International is a hub.

Belfast International Airport is located approximately 23km from the city of Belfast, and is nearby to the areas of Antrim, Crumlin, Templepatrick, Dunadry and Dundrod. Nearby Belfast are also the large towns of Newtownabbey, Bangor and Lisburn. Many of the passengers arriving at Belfast International Airport are coming to the area for business purposes, but many are tourists as well. Tourists come to see the wonderful cobbled streets of the Belfast historic centre, known as the Cathedral Quarter, to enjoy performances at the Grand Opera House and to explore the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum that depicts life in Ulster from the 1900’s. Traditional Irish sports such as Gaelic Football are enjoyed, and guided bus, cycle, boat and walking tours are available for all the main city sights. The attractions of Belfast are virtually endless, and the Belfast International Airport is the perfect arrival point at which to begin an interesting holiday. The airport has a tourist information desk as well, which is open from 07:30 to 19:00, Monday to Saturday, and on Sundays from 08:00 to 17:00. The information point has many brochures and other forms of literature, and a few souvenirs as well.

Additional services available from the tourist office in the Belfast International Airport arrival area includes assistance with accommodation bookings, and bookings for major events and festivals in Belfast. Tours of Belfast can be organised at the airport as well. The staff members in the office are able to communicate in French, German and Spanish, and are willing to provide assistance with all things in relation to tourism. Arriving passengers can also purchase bus tickets for the Airport Express 300 service at the tourist information desk. The Airport Express 300 leaves from just outside the terminal building approximately every fifteen minutes, and takes passengers who have arrived at the airport to the Belfast Europa Buscentre in central Belfast. The bus also stops at Templepatrick and Royal Avenue. The journey takes about thirty to forty minutes, depending on traffic conditions. Tickets for this bus are also available from the bus driver, and on board Easyjet flights.

Passengers who are ready to leave the airport will find further transport by buses to the Antrim Buscentre, the Lisburn railway station and to Londonderry/Derry. The Airporter is the coach service to Londonderry, and the Ulsterbus 109A takes passengers to Antrim and Lisburn. There is no train station at Belfast International Airport, but the train stations of Belfast city (the Great Victoria Street Station and Belfast Central Station), Antrim and Lisburn are easily reached on the airport buses. By taxi is another popular way for arriving passengers to travel from Belfast International Airport to their hotel, place of business or residence, and taxi services are provided by the ‘International Airport Taxi Company’.

Belfast International Airport has a large variety of facilities for their arriving and departing passengers, and they include a range of airport shops and restaurants, currency exchange facilities, cash machines and baby changing facilities. There are also WiFi connections, and in the departure area, a business lounge. The airport welcomes families with babies and young children, as well as disabled passengers. Facilities for passengers with reduced mobility challenges include elevators to the second level of the terminal, clear walkways within the building, wheelchairs which can be borrowed from the information counter, pavement ramps and reserved car parking spaces. The airport staff and staff of the airline companies are able to provide further assistance if it is arranged by the passenger in advance of their flight departure. Belfast International Airport consists of a newly renovated, single terminal building, that has two floors. Arriving passengers will enter the airport terminal on the ground floor, while the departure facilities are found on the upper level. Passengers who have parked their vehicles in the airport parking lot can make payments at the automatic machines at the terminal building, or at the exit barrier of the parking lots by credit or debit card.

Another way for visitors to see more of the Belfast city area and surrounding towns in Northern Ireland is by rented car, from one of the Belfast International Airport car hire companies. These companies include Hertz, Sixt, Budget, Avis, National, Europcar and Alamo, and are open at times arrival flights are expected. The road network of Northern Ireland is good, and links all the towns and cities. From the airport, it is easy to drive to Belfast, to Londonderry or even further south, to Dublin and areas in the Republic of Ireland. The car hire companies of the airport are found in the domestic arrival hall.

The main airline companies in operation at Belfast International Airport include Aer Lingus, Air Australia, Austrian Airlines, BH Air, Easyjet, Jet2.com, Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways, and their destinations include Paris, Rome, London, Spain (Malaga, Alicante, Barcelona and Murcia), Faro in Portugal, Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool, Blackpool, Newcastle and Geneva. In 2011, Belfast International Airport handled around 4.1 million passengers, which was an increase of around 100,000 passengers from 2010. A much greater number of passengers are expected to make use of the airport in future years.

Live Belfast International Airport arrivals can be found online, and further information for arriving passengers can be obtained from the airport, at the telephone number of +44 (0) 28 9448 4848.