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Date: 19 Aug 2025
This National Aviation Day, we’re taking you behind the scenes at Belfast City Airport for a look at the teams that make sure our passengers enjoy a quick, seamless, and stress-free experience.Whether you’re taking off or touching down, our team is on hand to ensure that everything runs smoothly and everyone using the site remains as safe and comfortable as possible.
4AM
As the sun rises over Belfast, Belfast City Airport springs to life.
During the summer, we open our doors at 4am, giving passengers plenty of time to shop, dine, and unwind before their flight takes off.
One of the first teams to arrive is our Operations team, who check the runway, surface markings, and navigation lights before planes start to arrive.
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Our Duty Manager, Car Park Assistance, Special Assistance, and Airport Fire and Rescue teams are also some of the first to arrive, ensuring that everything is ready for passengers.
430AM
Check-in opens, with Swissport handling everything from baggage to boarding. They work behind the scenes to get every suitcase and bag where it needs to go.
At security, the team from Mitie start to prepare for the morning rush. Thanks to their hard work and efficiency, Belfast City Airport boasts one of the shortest security processing times in the UK.
World Duty Free also opens its doors, offering passengers great value and savings on a range of local and global brands, regardless of where they’re travelling.
5AM
Our Departures Lounge comes to life with WHSmith, Caffe Nero, curi.o.city, and The Artisan opening at 5am – perfect for some early morning breakfast fuel before a flight! The Artisan even offers a breakFAST menu, so passengers can enjoy a hot breakfast in ten minutes or less.
635AM
The first flight of the day takes off. This morning, it was a British Airways flight to London Heathrow, followed closely by a KLM flight to Amsterdam.
Throughout the day, we’ll see off flights to a range of destinations across the UK and Europe, keeping passengers connected with our airline partners: Aer Lingus; British Airways; British Airways CityFlyer; easyJet; KLM; and Loganair.
During the summer months, we also operate a number of charter flights, including a special service to Bologna with Royal Caribbean for its Explorer of the Seas sailing.
850AM
The first flight of the day lands in Belfast City Airport –, this time varies, but this morning it was a British Airways flight from London Heathrow, followed by an Aer Lingus flight from Edinburgh.
Up to 10,000 people a day travel through Belfast City Airport from all over the world. Our London Heathrow and Amsterdam flights are especially popular with people connecting to Northern Ireland!
12PM
The lunch time rush starts, with six flights due to take off between 1pm and 2pm. These are heading across the UK to destinations such as London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds Bradford.
With up to 11 flights a day to and from London with British Airways, there will always be a couple of London-bound departures on the board too!
Meanwhile, our office-based teams – IT, Finance, Commercial, Marketing, and many more – will be working behind the scenes to ensure everything is running smoothly in the background.
7PM
Boarding begins for our final flight of the day.
Once this has taken off, our airside shops and restaurants get cleaned up and close down, ready to do it all again the next day.
915PM
Our final flight of the day is due in – today, that’s a KLM flight from Amsterdam. As Belfast City Airport isn’t open overnight, everything winds down after the final arrival of the day.
A day at Belfast City Airport is like a well-oiled machine, with everyone playing their part to perfection.
From the crack of dawn to the evening calm, everyone works together to keep Belfast City Airport punctual, friendly, and reliable.