Belfast City - General Thread

[News Guru]

[textarea]More roof damage caused by Belfast City bound planes

An east Belfast man has said he has been injured by roof tiles dislodged by a passing plane. Dan Melrose from Parkgate Drive said the plane was flying into or from the City Airport just after 22:00 on Tuesday. The news comes after two other houses suffered similar damage over the weekend.

In a statement, the airport said it had investigated the incident and the plane in question was not flying low. It said: ‘The airport's track monitoring system, which closely plots the height and trajectory of aircraft approaching and departing the airport, has been examined and found that the aircraft in question was not low-flying and was approaching the airfield in a normal and uniform manner. The airport is sensitive to the community and environment in which it operates and has repaired the damage to the roof as a goodwill gesture.’

Source[/textarea]

 

[News Guru]

[textarea]Charity boost from Belfast City Airport

Over £36,000 has been donated to local projects by Belfast City Airport’s Community Fund. The airport has funded 11 projects, including a pantomime trip for Adoption UK (NI), new tracksuits for Castlereagh Young Footballers and new equipment for disabled children to enjoy safe horse riding.

Since the fund was set up last year, it has supported children with autism at Helping Hands Community Group in Tullycarnet, young people with Down’s Syndrome at Cregagh Diamontes Dance Group and the airport’s adopted primary schools, St Joseph’s and Victoria Park. Support has also been provided to the writers of the George Best musical Dancing Shoes and the airport has donated £5000 to Priory College’s fundraising efforts for Haiti.

The airport is now inviting local residents and community groups to come along to two Community Information Days on August 26 and 27 to find out how they can apply for support from the Community Fund.

Source[/textarea]

 

[TheLocalYokel]

[textarea]Flybe to the rescue!

Leading regional airline steps in with 100 additional weekly flights to and from Belfast City Airport

Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline and the UK’s Number One Domestic carrier, has today announced three new services to Bristol, East Midlands and Liverpool from George Best Belfast City Airport bringing the total number of routes offered from the Northern Ireland airport to seventeen. This move will also mean locating two additional aircraft at the airport with the potential creation of 250 indirect jobs adding to the 215 already directly employed by Flybe in Belfast.

From Sunday 31st October 2010, Flybe will operate up to two daily flights to Bristol, two daily flights to East Midlands and up to four daily flights to Liverpool with fares starting at just £24.99 one way, including taxes and charges for each of the three new services. In addition, the airline will increase its daily service to Glasgow with an additional flight to cope with additional anticipated demand,

Mike Rutter, Flybe’s Chief Commercial Officer comments: “We are delighted to be able to introduce these three crucial routes following last week’s announcement by Ryanair to cease operations from Belfast City Airport and with it, services to Liverpool, Bristol and East Midlands as well as those to Scotland’s Prestwick airport.

Flybe has been serving the community in Northern Ireland for over 26 years. We are wholly committed to continue providing comprehensive connectivity throughout the UK and beyond to convenient destinations at competitive prices with maximum flexibility and choice.”

Welcoming the announcement Tourism Minister Arlene Foster said: “I congratulate the Airport operator for acting quickly to fill these routes, which were vacated by Ryanair. Flybe is an airline that has shown long-term commitment to Northern Ireland and today's announcement confirms their continued investment here.

“The development of direct, convenient and competitive access services is critical to achieving tourism growth and strategic targets. Great Britain is a key source market for Northern Ireland tourism and Tourism Ireland has an exceptionally strong promotional programme under way this year, to restore tourism growth from this all-important market. Tourism Ireland will be working with Flybe in Great Britain to maximise the promotion of these new routes.”

Katy Best, Business Development Director at George Best Belfast City Airport said: “We knew there was significant demand for the routes vacated and we’re pleased to finalise an agreement with Flybe on three routes. Flybe is a long term partner and recognises our significant and continuing investment at the airport to provide world class facilities for passengers.”

Added Mr Rutter: “Flybe recognises that, for a country such as Northern Ireland which depends so much on airlinks for its economic, social and tourism wellbeing, that reliability and dependability are key factors towards growth and development. In announcing these additional routes today we are further underlining our long-term investment and commitment to George Best Belfast City Airport and to Northern Ireland.”[/textarea]
http://www.flybe.com/news/1009/06.htm

 

[Aviador]

This is s sensible move by Flybe. Their aircraft are far more suitable for the domestic routes.

 

[News Guru]

[textarea]Belfast City Airport flight cap challenge to go to court

A legal challenge to the lifting of a cap on passenger numbers at Belfast City Airport is to proceed to a full hearing, a High Court judge has ruled. Rival hub Belfast International Airport was granted leave to seek a judicial review of the decision to remove the annual seats for sale restrictions. A residents' group, Belfast City Airport Watch Ltd, has issued similar proceedings.

The decision on passenger numbers was announced by Edwin Poots in December last year. The environment minister said he had decided to lift the limit of 2m seats a year ‘after careful consideration’. However, lawyers for the international airport claim the minister's decision was unlawful and failed to take into consideration environmental information.

A further ground of challenge centred on claims that the seats restriction was removed without checking whether there was an effective noise control system and an improved noise management system in place at Belfast City. David McMillen, for the department of environment, insisted that the minister did consider the environmental impact.

A full hearing of the challenges brought by Belfast International and Belfast City Airport Watch Ltd has been scheduled for three days in June.

Source[/textarea]

 

[News Guru]

[textarea]Decision to remove Belfast City Airport passenger cap quashed

A decision to lift the cap on passenger numbers at Belfast City Airport has been quashed at the High Court. Limits set at two million seats for sale in any year are to be reinstated after successful legal challenges against the move, announced by former Environment Minister Edwin Poots.

Rival Belfast International Airport (BIA) brought judicial review proceedings against removing the controversial restriction. It was claimed that the decision announced last December by the then minister was unlawful and failed to take into consideration environmental implications.

A further challenge centred on claims that the seats restriction was lifted without checking whether there was an effective noise control system and an improved noise management system in place at the City Airport. A residents' group, Belfast City Airport Watch Ltd, also issued similar proceedings against the department.

High Court orders confirming the outcome were made after the department conceded both cases ahead of a scheduled full hearing. Court orders now made in the cases have quashed the decision to lift the cap. As a result the revised planning agreement which removed the restriction has been declared of no force or effect.

A spokesperson for the airport said that they would ‘continue to work closely with the department to agree a noise contour and to engage in a process to modify our existing planning agreement.’ A spokesperson for Belfast International Airport welcomed the High Court decision.

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[News Guru]

[textarea]Belfast City Airport could have closed after Ryanair’s exit

Ryanair's decision to stop flying from Belfast City Airport could have seen it close, the Belfast Telegraph reports its boss has said. Brian Ambrose’s comments came during an interview with the newspaper in which he stressed the importance of the budget airline to the airport and to local economy.

Belfast City has plans to build an extension that would increase the current length of the runway by 470m to 2,299m for take-off and 2,059m for landing — but those plans have been in limbo for three-and-a-half years. Ryanair pulled out of the airport 14 months ago after a public inquiry into the proposed runway extension suffered a further delay.

Mr Ambrose said: ‘When you lose a third of your business overnight, you could have put the lights out here and paid off 1,500 people. At one stage it was as serious as that. City centre businesses said they noticed a marked downturn when Ryanair pulled out too. They said it had a massive impact (on the economy); you literally knew the weekend that it stopped.’

He blames a failure by the Department of the Environment’s (DoE) Planning Service to clear the way for a runway extension for stemming economic growth for over three years. But Environment Minister Alex Attwood said the airport has been dragging its feet with regard to providing information vital to a public inquiry into the runway extension.

Source[/textarea]

 

[Aviador]

[textarea]The jets were so noisy we couldn’t hear our teachers

Children in schools under the flightpath at George Best Belfast City Airport face disruption from excessive aircraft noise, a teaching union says.

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/ ... z1w5vR2ZF2[/textarea]

How close is this school? Belfast City airport is only a small airport with a limited number of jet movements compared with other regional airports. I struggle to believe the aircraft are so noisy and regular they inter-fear with school lessons.

 

[Jordan-34092]

Well now with BMI baby gone it looks like the airport may already have a new airline lined up, Aer Lingus have announced plans to move all operations to Belfast City, which will mean that City is the only Belfast airport with Heathrow Connections.

Full Story Here.

 

[Aviador]

[textarea]Aer Lingus confirms Belfast airport talks

Aer Lingus has confirmed that it is in talks with George Best Belfast City Airport.

The airline is believed to be planning to switch its operations from Belfast International Airport to Belfast City.

Full story http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingne ... 56234.html[/textarea]

From what I understand the International airport is a good 15 miles from the centre of Belfast and most people prefer to fly from the city airport with it been closer to the main population areas of the city. The city airport suffers because of development constraints set by the Belfast council and numerous attempts by the airport to expand have failed. If Aer Lingus were to move to the city airport it would be well received by the majority of people.

 

[Jordan-34092]

One other thing some of you may already know this but one of the restrictions the airport currently has on it, is that it can't exceed 2 million seats sold per year, now the sources i use show that the airport is exceeding this quite a bit but the Government haven't been enforcing this restriction. The airport wants this restriction removing completely which will allow it to sell more seats while keeping inside the 48,000 aircraft movements a year which they have stated they plan to do. The airport has warned that the seat restriction is restricting the airport in creating 350 jobs at the airport both directly at the airport and in directly.

I personally don't see the point of this restriction as the original seats for sale restriction was predicated on restricted egress from the old airport exit which required citybound vehicles leaving the airport to cross the dual carriageway on a traffic light system which as far i as am aware is no longer there and it all runs underground.

 

[News Guru]

[textarea]Row as airport rejects EU directive on aircraft noise

Councillors have accused the airport of trying to wriggle out of its responsibilities after it refused to set up a Noise Management Area in the residential area most affected by noise.

An EU Noise Directive recommended that a Noise Management Area where control measures would be in play should be set up for the 1% of residents most affected by aircraft.

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/ ... 62860.html[/textarea]

 

[News Guru]

[textarea]Four out of five want George Best Belfast City Airport's seats limit lifted, poll reveals

A new poll suggests that 82.1% of people in Northern Ireland are in favour of lifting the seats for sale cap at Belfast City Airport.

The cap, which limits the number of seats offered for sale on planes flying out of the airport to two million a year, was removed from the planning agreement by then Environment Minister Edwin Poots in 2011.

But that was quashed at the High Court by Mr Justice Treacy shortly afterwards with a challenge by Belfast City Airport Watch, an umbrella group for residents' groups near the airport.

The next Environment Minister, Alex Attwood, pledged to hold a public inquiry to explore the issue but this became bogged down in delays over the supply of information and is not now expected to take place until next year.

Full story: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/ ... 22497.html[/textarea]

 

[BSL-2km]

I worked for BMI at Belfast city for some 8 months a few years back... Was good fun, some pretty amazing stories i could tell ya..
Rubbish pay though..

 

[jfy1999]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-34569825

Belgium's national airline is to begin a new flight between Brussels and George Best Belfast City Airport.
Starting next March, Brussels Airlines will operate the service five times a week.

Fantastic news for Belfast following KLM's new flights to Amsterdam.

 

[Jerry]

Only a rumour but on the other forum it's been posted that KLM will move to BFS so they can have a 05.55 departure.

 

[Jerry]

Rumours on the other forum and Twitter saying that Vueling will launch Alicante, Malaga and Mallorca for Summer 2020 and that HOP! will operate a daily CDG with an overnighting aircraft and that KLM will add an extra departure.

 

[Jerry]

Flybe collapse could close Southampton and Belfast airports, says MP

Exclusive: ‘Although there would be significant and potentially ongoing disruption, Southampton airport wouldn’t close without Flybe’ – airport spokesman

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Severn]

New easyJet route from BHD to BRS

easyJet will start operating 3x weekly flights to BRS from BHD starting 7th September.
The flights will operate We, Fr, Su and will run alongside 22x weekly departures from BFS to BRS

Whilst continuing to operate from their large base in BFS, easyJet have started operating from BHD this year to LGW and LPL

During the first week of September, easyJet will operate the following flights from BHD:
LGW - 14x weekly
LPL - 7x weekly
BRS - 3x weekly

During the first week of September, easyJet will also operate the following flights to the UK from BFS:
LGW - 39x weekly
GLA - 33x weekly
LPL - 30x weekly
MAN - 30x weekly
LTN - 28x weekly
EDI - 26x weekly
BRS - 22x weekly
BHX - 22x weekly
STN - 20x weekly
NCL - 14x weekly
IOM - 2x weekly
JER - 2x weekly
LBA - 2x weekly

 

[Silvercity]

New easyJet route from BHD to BRS

easyJet will start operating 3x weekly flights to BRS from BHD starting 7th September.
The flights will operate We, Fr, Su and will run alongside 22x weekly departures from BFS to BRS

Whilst continuing to operate from their large base in BFS, easyJet have started operating from BHD this year to LGW and LPL

During the first week of September, easyJet will operate the following flights from BHD:
LGW - 14x weekly
LPL - 7x weekly
BRS - 3x weekly

During the first week of September, easyJet will also operate the following flights to the UK from BFS:
LGW - 39x weekly
GLA - 33x weekly
LPL - 30x weekly
MAN - 30x weekly
LTN - 28x weekly
EDI - 26x weekly
BRS - 22x weekly
BHX - 22x weekly
STN - 20x weekly
NCL - 14x weekly
IOM - 2x weekly
JER - 2x weekly
LBA - 2x weekly

From the LPL perspective this is a welcome addition and a route that's not been served for a bit now. There is a strong demand between the two cities so its right passengers now have a choice of Belfast airports. I was expecting Flybe to jump on this route, but after hearing about their poor performance, EasyJet is a much more reliable option.