Aer Lingus

[Jerry]

I think it would complement the Dublin route well, but it could harm KLM as Jerry mentioned. A BHD double daily and 3/4 times a week to Cork on the other hand would be great to see.

I think for Aer getting Belfast increased and getting Cork should be the priority leaving Dublin to Ryanair.

 

[Jerry]

Just had an interesting conversation with an Australian tourist who's also using the Belfast flight to travel to Edinburgh because her travel agent told them there was no flight to Edinburgh. Even though there's one tonight. Makes me wonder how many use the Belfast route to travel to other destinations.

 

[geoff]

Makes me wonder at the lack of knowledge of some South Wales agents ,unless of course they are on more commission for selling Aer Lingus flights.

 

[Finger66]

I suspect there are two other events at play here:
Timing - the direct flight may not be appealing
Cost - LM are not renowned for being the cheapest

 

[Jerry]

Makes me wonder at the lack of knowledge of some South Wales agents ,unless of course they are on more commission for selling Aer Lingus flights.

Idk but the problem is that Loganair are expensive and that could put some agents off and it could also be what time of day they were looking at. 20.15 may have just been to late for what they wanted.

The good thing is that they flew them from Cardiff even if it's not direct.

 

[geoff]

Aer Lingus has put 6 flights on between CWL and Dublin, for the six nations rugby, 2 flights both ways on Thursday 5th March 2026, Friday 6th March and Sat. 7th March

 

[Jerry]

Aer Lingus Six Nations flights 2026
5/3/26
DUB-CWL 11.20-12.30 CWL-DUB 13.00-14.10
DUB-CWL 18.35-19.45 CWL-DUB 20.15-21.30
6/3/26
DUB-CWL 07.30-08.40 CWL-DUB 09.10-10.20
DUB-CWL 10.50-12.00 CWL-DUB 12.30-13.45
7/3/26
DUB-CWL 07.30-08.40 CWL-DUB 09.10-10.20
DUB-CWL 10.50-12.00 CWL-DUB 12.30-13.45
8/3/26
DUB-CWL 18.35-19.45 CWL-DUB 20.15-21.30

 

[Jerry]

Unfortunately it looks like Aer Lingus have reduced Belfast to 5 weekly with no Tuesday and Wednesday flights during January, February and March 2026. CWL can't seem to catch a break.

 

[Samdorob]

Unfortunately it looks like Aer Lingus have reduced Belfast to 5 weekly with no Tuesday and Wednesday flights during January, February and March 2026. CWL can't seem to catch a break.

Now that is a shame, as I assumed the route did well last winter.

 

[Jerry]

Now that is a shame, as I assumed the route did well last winter.

Well i believe they've increased flights at Manchester and East Midlands so whether that was a factor idk. It's frustrating because CWL needs every flight it can get especially in the winter.

 

[Samdorob]

Thanks to Cardiff Airport Flights and Deals on Facebook for spotting that the Aer Lingus BHD route will be back to daily for Winter 26/27. At least up to January. The remainder of the schedule up to April is yet to be released.

 

[Jerry]

Aer Lingus Belfast City stats for Belfast City for 2025, 2024 is in brackets
January 2943 (2369)
February 3436 (2532)
March 3600 (3555)
April 3634 (3153)
May 3596 (3538)
June 3706 (3797)
July 3888 (3523)
August 3653 (3798)
September 3226 (3538)
October 3346 (3501)
November 3336 (3394)
December 3285 (3429)
Total 41,649 passengers (40,129) up 3.7% on 2024

 

[CAN&I]

Aer Lingus Belfast City stats for Belfast City for 2025, 2024 is in brackets
January 2943 (2369)
February 3436 (2532)
March 3600 (3555)
April 3634 (3153)
May 3596 (3538)
June 3706 (3797)
July 3888 (3523)
August 3653 (3798)
September 3226 (3538)
October 3346 (3501)
November 3336 (3394)
December 3285 (3429)
Total 41,649 passengers (40,129) up 3.7% on 2024

According to the official CAA stats the total for 2025 is 41,847, up 1,545 / 3.8% on 2024.

January 2959 (2387)
February 3455 (2538)
March 3606 (3530)
April 3622 (3172)
May 3619 (3559)
June 3742 (3796)
July 3877 (3536)
August 3686 (3823)
September 3243 (3548)
October 3375 (3499)
November 3347 (3457)
December 3316 (3457)

(These are the scheduled figures only. The numbers for November and December 2024 look suspiciously identical, but thats what the official stats say!)

 

[Jerry]

According to the official CAA stats the total for 2025 is 41,847, up 1,545 / 3.8% on 2024.

January 2959 (2387)
February 3455 (2538)
March 3606 (3530)
April 3622 (3172)
May 3619 (3559)
June 3742 (3796)
July 3877 (3536)
August 3686 (3823)
September 3243 (3548)
October 3375 (3499)
November 3347 (3457)
December 3316 (3457)

(These are the scheduled figures only. The numbers for November and December 2024 look suspiciously identical, but thats what the official stats say!)

The figures are from the CAA website

 

[CAN&I]

The figures are from the CAA website

Yep same here - from the monthly figures Jan - Dec. Which files are your figures sourced from? We're using tables 12.1, 12.2 and 12.3 (discounting the duplicates between 12.2 and 12.3)

 

[Jerry]

Yep same here - from the monthly figures Jan - Dec. Which files are your figures sourced from? We're using tables 12.1, 12.2 and 12.3 (discounting the duplicates between 12.2 and 12.3)

Pax traffic route analysis.

 

[CAN&I]

Pax traffic route analysis.

Think we've spotted whats going on. Are you looking at the Belfast City -> Cardiff figures in table 12.3? These seem to differ from the Cardiff -> Belfast City numbers in the same table where they should correspond.

e.g. for June 2025:

• Source Airport: Belfast City, Destination Cardiff Wales - 3,706 (2025), 3,797 (2024)
• Source Airport: Cardiff Wales, Destination Belfast City - 3,742 (2025), 3,796 (2024)

and October 2025:

• Source Airport: Belfast City, Destination Cardiff Wales - 3,346 (2025), 3,501 (2024)
• Source Airport: Cardiff Wales, Destination Belfast City - 3,375 (2025), 3,499 (2024)

For both random examples your numbers match the first row, ours the second, but why are they different between each reporting airport???

The numbers for KLM and Ryanair are all identical, but they are sourced from report 12.1.

Strange....

 

[Jerry]

Interesting that there seems to be a difference. Could be different methods in recording pax from the individual airports? Also I'm sure Belfast City never used to be recorded in the Cardiff section. It's why I've always used the numbers from the Belfast City section.

 

[CAN&I]

Interesting that there seems to be a difference. Could be different methods in recording pax from the individual airports? Also I'm sure Belfast City never used to be recorded in the Cardiff section. It's why I've always used the numbers from the Belfast City section.

Its an odd one isn't it? How can there be such a difference?

The BHD figures are indeed recorded in the CWL list BUT only in report 12.3. The data is missing from 12.2 so you have to merge the two reports and remove the duplicates. Its a pain.

Then you have the report 1.0, the size of UK airports for the YTD, which doesn't match the total figures for the Jan-Dec reports 12.1, 12.2 and 12.3 because the latter reports do not include transit passengers. Yet, confusingly, when you add the transit passengers the numbers still don't add up!!!

No wonder the CAA sates it takes no responsibility for the accuracy of the figures.