Exploring Belfast City Airport // Part Two

September was a good month for rainbows in and around Belfast. The afternoon I visited the Belfast City Airport was no exception.

It’s difficult to beat the magic of the journey hold luggage takes between the check-in desk and the aeroplane. Some of the technology around the airport is craftily simple.

As planes taxi in across the apron to their stand, how do they know when they’re lined up straight? There are a set of lights underneath the stand number. When the plane is correctly aligned, from the captain’s (left hand) seat in the cockpit, the two lines will be green. Veer to one side, and they’ll turn red.

The airport’s three yellow fire tenders are due for replacement in the next year or so. They serve the wider harbour estate, so don’t be surprised if you see them responding to an emergency in the local area.

I’m not sure why – it is a fire station after all – but I was quite surprised to see a fireman’s pole! It’s still the fastest method of getting downstairs from the mess to the vehicles. There’s a cushion on the ground to protect your ankles when you reach the bottom

Air Traffic Control lives above the fire station, with a clear view of the airport stands and the up the runway towards Ikea and beyond.

The relatively low volume of aircraft movements means that flights can be tracked on paper strips.

Belfast City Airport is like a village, with a couple of big thoroughfares that visitors walk along, and a whole series of hidden short cuts and narrow back alleys that the locals use to go about their business. Touring the airport gave me a fascinating insight into the behind the scenes activity that keeps the airport running. Thanks again to the staff at the airport for offering the tour.

There’s little doubt that between the announcements of carriers moving out and in, the plans for runway extension, the public enquiry and the inevitable love/hate relationship between local residents and the airport, Belfast City Airport will continue to be in the news.

Belfast City Airport keen to replace a planning constraint on demolished Portakabins with noise contour and cap

That’s George Best Belfast City Airport’s commercial and marketing director Katy Best standing on the ground that used to be occupied by the Harbour Airport’s old Portakabin terminal building. It was vacated in 2001 and subsequently demolished.

Local airports have been in the news a lot recently, with the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee inquiring into an air transport strategy and strong rumours that Aer Lingus will soon formally announce its intention to shift from Belfast International into the City. (If it does, the limited length of the runway at Belfast City Airport may force some changes in Aer Lingus routes, ruling out current destinations like Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife which would require more fuel than the planes could hold and still manage to take off on a short runway.)

The DOE launched a public consultation into proposed amendments to the Belfast City Airport’s planning agreement in April and the consultation closed on 8 June has been extended until 30 June (for at least one respondent). The key change proposed by the airport is dropping its current 2 million seats for sale limit (ie, number of people departing from the airport) and instead introducing a noise control cap that would be enforceable by the DOE.

listen to ‘Katy Best from @belfastcity_air talking about seats for sale consultation’ on Audioboo

In the audio clip above, Katy Best outlines Belfast City Airport’s proposals to amend their planning agreement.

The current 2 million seats for sale limit was a planning condition attached to the old terminal building that is no longer standing. The airport state that this condition was due to the physical capacity of the terminal building, rather than the aimed at controlling flights. North Down Council agree with the airport’s interpretation:

They understand that they were established to prevent crowding in the old terminal buildings. Belfast City is the only airport in the UK with such a restriction. Even London City airport (the only other designated ‘City’ airport in the UK) does not have a seats for sale restriction.

The airport does seem to have a point that a planning condition attached to a long-demolished building is no way to control the expansion – and the community impact of that potential expansion – of an airport.

The proposed noise contour and cap would directly address the issue of noise using a recognised measure applied at other UK airports, along with existing restrictions on aircraft types, operating hours (with airline fines for permitted breaches going into the airport's community fund) and the bias towards takeoffs and landings over Belfast Lough (around 55%).

Katy Best points out that the uniqueness of Belfast City Airport is its proximity (3km) to the city centre, rather than its proximity to houses. Most airports sit alongside houses and have flight paths that go over similar areas of population.

Campaign group Belfast City Airport Watch quotes figures from the airport’s consultants which explain that

… 6,195 people now suffer from a level of aircraft noise deemed by the UK government to cause “significant community annoyance” – compared to 3,522 in 2007.

On the other hand, only 41 noise complaints were lodged with the airport during 2011 (a significant decrease on 135 in 2010) and while many schools sit under the flight path, none have complained. Over a thousand individuals have submitted responses to the consultation (often signing pre-printed letter templates). [Originally I posted that a hundred individuals had replied - my mistake, it was one hundred pages of responses.]

There is no proposal to change the existing 48,000 annual flight limit. Having operated 41,941 flights in 2011 and with 40% of the airport’s business disappearing with the loss of bmibaby, it could be some time before the economy and the local demand for flights recovers to push towards either the 2 million seats for sale or 48,000 flight limit.

The airport reckons that given that 50% of its passengers are tourists. The indirect economic benefit to the local tourism industry on top of direct employment at the airport due to expansion could amount to between 320 and 350 full time equivalent jobs, and between £20.9m and £22.5m economic growth (varying between low and high growth scenarios in its Economic Impact report).

The Environment Minister Alex Attwood has promised a decision by the end of the year. However it is quite foreseeable that the City Airport’s main competitor Belfast International Airport would (again) apply for a judicial review if the seats for sale restriction is removed. (I could speculate that their motivation would be a commercial desire to limit the ambitions of its short haul neighbour rather than out of any desire to reduce noise in East Belfast, South Belfast and North Down!)

It will be interesting to see how the DOE and its minister balance community (noise, jobs) with economics (flights, passengers, tourists, jobs) and justify their decision.

Belfast City Airport community information day

George Best Belfast City Airport are running a couple of Community Information days this week to give local residents an opportunity to find out more about how the airport runs and its plans for the future.

There’s another opportunity on Friday morning (27 August) between 8am and noon. Just go into the airport Information Desk and they’ll direct you to the conference room.

In light of the continued saga of the runway extension and the (delayed) public inquiry, not to mention the vocal campaigning by the Belfast City Airport Watch Ltd and other residents’ groups, the timing of the community engagement was no accident.

I popped along this evening. After years of manic travelling with work, the airport is no longer such a familiar destination. So it was interesting to see the changes inside the terminal building that have happened since I last flew out.

Staff from each area of the airport’s operation were available to talk about flight paths, the community fund and the recent terminal extension.

• Environmentally, BCA are putting a lot of effort into increasing the level of recycling across the airport site as well as reducing their energy consumption.
  
  
• Around 6% of airport passengers arrive by bus using the regular (and reliable) Metro service. An incalculably small number arrive by train to the Sydenham stop in front of the old terminal entrance and request the car park bus to ferry them across to the new terminal (or walk over the bridge and along the footpath).
  
  
• The Belfast City Airport Forum first met in March 1993. Membership of the forum was revised in 2009, and the minutes of the new group’s first meeting in March 2010 are available online.
  
  
• The quality of the runway surface and the groves running across it are tested frequently to ensure it meets standards and will supply sufficient friction to support planes braking sharply on landing.
  
  
• BCA’s bird management plan extends far beyond the airport’s perimeter and tries to reduce the likelihood of birds crossing the path of flights.
  
  
• The CAT I instrumentation landing system supports planes coming into land over Belfast Lough. When the current equipment shortly reaches the end of its life, the replacement will be installed at both ends of the runway (and will be CAT III capable in case the airport switch to that at a later date).
  
  
• As well as keeping two fire appliances on standby to cope with emergency landings and fires within the airport complex and the local area, BCA’s Fire and Rescue Service help train other emergency crews using their gas-powered hot fire rig, and deliver training courses within the community.

Staff were keen to talk about the runway extension. Adding 590 metres to the Holywood end of the runway would allow the existing aircraft to fly fully laden with passengers and fuel, offering destinations further afield in mainland Europe. BCA’s current planning constraint means it can operate no more than 48,000 flights each year. Last year they managed 39,328 flights carrying 2.60 million passengers; in 2008 they peaked at 42,998 flights for 2.56 million people. There is a fear that the longer runway would result in larger planes starting to operate from Belfast City Airport. BCA say they have no plans to allow carriers to use larger planes. They also point to the geography of the airport and the physical impossibility of parking larger airplanes on stands given the location of the runway and the terminal building. Jumbo jets wont fit!

While the open night was relatively quiet while I was there, it was beginning to get busier as I left. Young children were trying on a yellow fire-fighter’s helmet while local residents were getting their questions answered directly by airport staff. Liz Fawcett – chair of the Belfast City Airport Watch steering group (who aren't named on their website!) – popped in too to get some clarification on flight path reporting and runway extension issues.

It was interesting to hear one Holywood resident describe the reality of the noise of the first aircraft taking off each morning, but then reflecting that it was really handy having the airport just down the road!

As a major employer – around 1,500 people work at or in support of the airport – an irritant, and the gateway to holiday destinations and meetings in London, the airport’s engagement with the local East Belfast and North Down communities seems wholehearted and positive. And waiving the car parking fee was a nice touch too!

Belfast City Airport - outreach update and news of Ryanair's withdrawal

In the end, Belfast City Airport’s recent outreach event didn’t attract a lot of people over the terminal threshold to hear what the airport was up to. While 21,000 local homes may have received the regular airport newsletter, only 42 people turned up at the two half-day Community Information sessions run last week.

As I blogged over on Slugger O’Toole, a bigger blow was dealt this morning when Michael O’Leary announced at a press conference in the Europa Hotel that Ryanair would be pulling out of Belfast City on 31 October, ceasing their routes to Bristol, East Midlands, Liverpool, London Stansted and Prestwick. (They're continuing to fly out of City of Derry airport.) O’Leary has run out of patience with the continued lack of runway extension and the delayed public inquiry.

“It is very disappointing that the promised runway extension at Belfast City Airport has still not materialised more than three years after we opened the base at Belfast City.”

“It makes no sense for Ryanair to continue to invest in Belfast City, operating restricted routes with less than full payloads between Belfast and other UK airports (which suffer a double APD penalty) unless there is clear and immediate prospect of Ryanair being enabled to safely operate.”

It’s unlikely that O’Leary’s intervention will speed up the process. More likely it’ll encourage easyJet to continue their bargaining between Belfast International and Belfast City airports and perhaps shift more flights down from Aldergrove to the harbour. In July, Ryanair announced a three-month suspension of flights from Bournemouth airport between 1 November 2010 and 31 January 2011, citing the government's £11 tourist tax.

Local politicians reacted to Ryanair’s announcement. Dawn Purvis MLA colourfully suggested:

“While it is regrettable, it is not surprising, Mr O’Leary has long made his views known regarding the democratic right of the people of East Belfast to lodge their objections and lobby their elected representatives against a runway extension which would add to the already nuisance levels of noise and other forms of pollution. Mr O’Leary probably needs reminded that we live in a democratic country not a fascist state where profit is more important than the health and well being of its citizens.

My major concern in all of this is that Mr O’Leary’s ‘hissy fit’ does not cost jobs, I hope he has the decency to ensure that these employees can be redeployed elsewhere within Ryan Air operations.”

And Sinn Féin’s local East Belfast representative Niall Ó Donnghaile also highlighted the labour impact:

“While I'm sure many residents will not be mourning the apparent loss of Ryanair, I think this move by Michael O'Leary is an extremely retrograde step and will only punish Ryanair workers as well as the local economy and air travel commuters.”

Update - I've embedded below a thirty minute documentary produced by NvTv a year or so ago about Belfast City Airport and the proposed runway extension.

New route between Belfast City & Doncaster Sheffield airport; but who remembers the much smaller Sheffield City airport?

A recent email from Belfast City Airport about a new route to Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport caught my eye and reminded me about travelling through the much smaller Sheffield City Airport in the early 2000s.

LinksAir’s new route is between Belfast and Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport (Monday-Friday twice a day, and early evening on Sunday). It’s a relatively small airport (with 690,351 passengers and 11,197 take-offs and landings in 2013) and is dwarfed by Leeds Bradford (70 minutes drive north west) and Belfast City Airport. But it’s very convenient to Sheffield at a little under 20 miles to the east of the city centre. Originally the site of RAF Finningley, it was converted to a commercial airport in 2005. With a long runway it was one of the Space Shuttle emergency landing sites in the event of a Transoceanic Abort Landing.

Sheffield City’s own little airport was a different kettle of fish. As explained in a 2010 post which documented the path taken by hold baggage once you lose sight of it at Belfast City Airport check-in …

I remember travelling home through Sheffield Airport one evening about five or six years ago.

The conveyor belt at the side of the check-in desk didn’t move. Instead a man in overalls appeared and lifted my small case and carried it over to a door, went outside and loaded it by hand into the hold of the small aircraft.

Later, he held the same door open as a handful of us walked out to board the aircraft. And before the plane taxied back from its stand, he had changed into a fireman’s uniform and was heading towards the airfield’s fire truck.

A one man operation.

An airport with so little traffic that it didn’t have a radar! No surprise that Sheffield Airport ceased business at the end of April 2008.

The route between Belfast City and less compact and bijou Doncaster Sheffield started flying on Friday 11 April.

(Sheffield City Airport image from Wikipedia.)

Ryanair’s claim of 80% flightpaths over Belfast Lough vs Belfast City Airport’s public statistics

An anonymous commenter has made a very good point about a quote in a recent post that mentioned Belfast City Airport’s runway expansion plans.

“Ryanair's statement that 80% of their flights over Befast Lough is a laugh - only just over 50% of flights now go over the Lough (see [url]) and nearly every Ryanair take-off is over my house and I live in the city - 3 miles from the airport! Ryanair and statistics - they never seem to get them right!”

As part of various statements and articles about the soon-to-be submitted runway extension planning application from Belfast City Airport, Ryanair is quoted making claims about the direction of their takeoffs and landings. For example, from the Belfast Telegraph’s article on 3 March 2008:

David O’Brien, ground and flight operations director with Ryanair, said local residents should have no fears about the runway extension.

“The airport tells us that 80% of our flights use flightpaths over Belfast Lough, which minimises noise in residential areas,” he said.

“Far from being alarmed, residents should be delighted that the airline with the most modern and environmentally efficient fleet is coming to Belfast City.”

This begs the question, 80% of what? And when?

The airport’s own Master Plan published in 2006 refers back to the January 1997 Planning Agreement under which the airport operates. This includes the stipulation:

“A bias shall be maintained of approaches and climb outs over Belfast Lough.”

This was also reinforced by the report of the 2004/5/6 public examination of the Planning Agreement which noted that the

“bias figure achieved has reduced from over 68% in 2001 to around 57% in 2005”.

The airport themselves publish statistics on their website about the direction of takeoffs and landings. As I write, the figures cover the period Nov 2007–Jan 2008, and they’re not supportive of the 80% claim.

The trend over the published three month period has been for 53.4% of flights to arrive or depart over Belfast Lough. That’s a long way from the 80% quoted by Ryanair.

Perhaps Ryanair has access to more up-to-date information? It seems highly unlikely that Ryanair are more Lough-facing than the other airlines at the harbour airport. And unless the period covering 80% was a single afternoon when the wind changed between landings and takeoffs, I find it hard to believe the 80% figure.

Either way, I’ve emailed David O’Brien at Ryanair and the airport to ask! In the event of hearing back from the former (unlikely) or the latter (a lot more likely), I’ll keep you posted.

Update - 17 April - Still no reply from either Ryanair or Belfast City Airport, though I've resent to the airport which has been in the news again.

Belfast City Airport = Flybe iced up + emergency exercises + flightpaths over Belfast + and later opening

Belfast City Airport is struggling to keep out of the news at the moment!

The Air Accident Investigation Branch have reported on the Flybe Dash-8 that was on its way across from Edinburgh to Belfast City on the evening of 10 December 2006 carrying 71 passengers and four crew. The flight had to make an emergency descent from 16,000 feet down to 8,000 feet when cockpit instruments failed. Rather than turn back, the crew continued towards Belfast at low altitude and landed safely.

The report determined that at least one of the heaters that keep external sensors from icing up had not been switched on in time.

“The report said that one of the heaters was definitely not turned on and, ‘in all probability’ the crew had failed to turn on two others ...

The report said the crew’s pre-flight checks may not have been done properly and that they may have become distracted before take off.” BBC News report

Despite having solid state back boxes, only the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) which records details about instruments and measurements was of any use to the investigators:

“by the time the order was made for the preservation of the CVR [Cockpit Voice Recorder - which held just over 26 hours], data for the incident flight had been over‑written.”

Belfast City Airport will soon be conducting one of their regular emergency simulation exercises to practice coordination of police, fire, ambulance and airport teams.

As I’ve driven into work down the Holywood Road the last few mornings, planes have been consistently coming in to land over South Belfast. I kept thinking that it would make a terrific photograph as they disappear in behind Holywood Arches Health Centre, or appear out of nowhere above Wyse Buys.

And it also reminded me that the airport had never got back to me about up-to-date (and historic) flight-path direction information. The statistics on their webpages are still two and a half months out of date. (I’ve a feeling they only update them quarterly.) And they still don’t support Ryanair’s public claim:

“The airport tells us that 80% of our flights use flightpaths over Belfast Lough, which minimises noise in residential areas”.

Nor did bmi come back with more details about their barcode check-on trial that’s starting in Belfast City Airport in May.

Combining aspects of those last two threads was today’s report on Good Morning Ulster about bmi’s call for an extension to the airport’s opening hours to allow their final flight to land later and better serve the business community who would appreciate 30–60 extra minutes in London and better connections with evening flights coming in from Europe.

Local residents were interviewed on the Ormeau Road in a lull between early morning takeoffs and the next rush of aerial activity around 9am. There was a notable absence of participation from bmi and Belfast City Airport (who had been invited).

A desire for later flights was something that the airlines were asked about in the 2004–6 public examination of the Planning Agreement. Back in January 2005, bmi outlined their position, consistent with this morning’s report about a desire to see an extension to opening hours.

Belfast City Airport – could be sold off before they get the runway lengthened

When Belfast City Airport was bought over by a Spanish firm from Bombardier for £35m a few of years ago, Ferrovial was hardly a household name. But since then, they’ve picked a couple of other well-known airports by buying over BAA (who control Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Southampton).

And having splashed out the cash for BAA, Ferrovial are now looking to bring some cash to lessen their debts of over €30bn. BAA and Ferrovial have already disposed of some Australian, European and UK assets over the last two years. Local (and now national) papers are reporting that Ferrovial are “understood to be in discussions with London-based investment bank JP Morgan regarding a possible sale”.

“Sources have told the News Letter that up to eight interested parties have expressed interest in buying the facility and that Ferrovial was aiming to sell the airport for between £100m and £150m.

Brian Ambrose, BCA chief executive yesterday refused to confirm that negotiations were taking place but said that a sale may be possible.”

This at the same time as Belfast City Airport are expanding their departures hall, and also expected to lodge proposals for a 600m runway extension that would allow Ryanair’s modern Boeing 737-800 aircraft to take off with a full load of 189 passengers as well as a full load of fuel. Currently, due to the length of the runway, they’re restricted to 140 passengers, and cannot load enough fuel to fly direct far into Europe.

Might make the bmi landings a bit less nerve-wracking as the pilots plump the planes down at the start of the runway and throw on the handbrake!

Local residents have long been unhappy with increasing operations at the East Belfast airport, late takeoffs and landings, voicing noise and safety fears as planes pass over heavily residential areas.

Ryanair’s The airport’s Ground and Flight Operations Director, David O’Brien, countered:

“The airport tells us that 80% of our flights use flight paths over Belfast Lough, which minimises noise in residential areas,” he said.

“Far from being alarmed, residents should be delighted that the airline with the most modern and environmentally efficient fleet is coming to Belfast City.”

Though these figures - the 80% - are not reflected in the latest statistics (Nov-Jan) for takeoffs and landings on the Belfast City Airport's website. There's a follow-up post.

Having enquired after the last few foggy days when flights and particularly landings were disrupted at the City Airport, the airport confirmed that until the runway length is sorted, the airport’s plans to deploy CAT-III instrument landing equipment will also remain on hold, as there’d be no point installing it only to have to dig it all up and move it within 12 months.

3% plastic surcharge at Belfast airport car parks

Are you aware that it costs extra when you pay for airport parking by debit/credit cards at Belfast International or Belfast City Airports?

Having conquered my previous compulsion to get up ridiculously early to catch flights to England and arrive at meetings in time for breakfast, I’m now a much less frequent visitor to Belfast’s two airports. (Though blog readers may wish to disagree!)

So as I pulled up to the short term car park barrier at Belfast International Airport I felt smug as I reached out the car window to put my credit card into the entrance machine and noticed the message about using your credit card rather than taking paper ticket. I hadn’t forgotten all the old tricks!

Half an hour later, Cheryl had landed, raced through customs, and we headed back down the long corridor to the door. I paused at the parking payment machine, shoved in my credit card and out of habit (normally for expenses) pushed the receipt button.

Bit of a waste for £1 ... but then my eye caught the screen.

£1.03.

Where did the 3p come from?

Pretty sure the signs in the car park all said £1 for an hour. Then I looked up and spotted the sticker up in the top left hand corner of the payment machine (above the card slot, the screen and the buttons) which explained that debit/credit card transactions attracted a 3% surcharge. A 3p charge for following the airport’s advice and using my credit card?

It turns out that Belfast International Airport (or perhaps more properly, Q-Park who manage the car park) introduced the 3% plastic surcharge back in May 2010. It’s a handling fee passed on by card companies.

BIA assure me that “signs are placed on ALL entrance and exit barriers as well as ticket machines ... the most logical place to alert drivers to the change” so I must have missed it on the way into the car park.

But strange that I noticed the messaging about using plastic for convenience and missed the signage about the surcharge? I doubt it was as obvious as the example photo from the long term car park.

Strange that I didn’t notice the above eye-level sign when I stepped up to the pay machine?

BIA also highlight that they’re not alone: Belfast City Airport also charge 3% extra for the convenience of using your flexible friend. Though travellers using City of Derry Airport suffer no such penalty.

Belfast City Airport have for some time mentioned the surcharge on the parking pages on their website. Belfast International Airport have just added details of the surcharge to their website, but don’t mention it on the outdoor tariff signs.

Given the city centre rates to park at local airports and the high ratio of cars to staff, you’d have to assume that it’s not a cost-recovery business and that there’s quite a high profit margin that feeds money back into the operation of the airport.

Maybe some of that will be spent on rationalising the mass of signage that now greets car owners as they arrive at BIA: short term ... drop off ... £1 for an hour ... 10 minutes and the screaming “no U-turn” signs.

Pay by plastic, pay a little bit extra. You have been warned!

(Particular thanks to @szlwzl for the crowd-sourced photos.)

Belfast City Airport runway may get loooonger

The long-awaited application to extend the runway at George Best Belfast City Airport has been submitted. This news follows on from last month’s capacity increases in the number of annual flights (48,000) and “seats for sale” (2 million in and out) at the harbour airport.

An extra 590m in front of Ikea and Holy Wood Exchange would allow existing aircraft to take off with a full load of fuel and passengers, allowing them to reach further away European and Mediterranean destinations direct from Belfast.

The airport chief executive Brian Ambrose explained:

“We also want to publicly reassure people living in Belfast or close to the flight-path that the runway extension will not involve an increase in flights or a change in the opening hours of the airport. The current planning agreement restricts operating hours from 6:30am to 9:30pm daily and caps air traffic movements at 48,000 per annum.

Furthermore, we would like to make it clear that we have no intention of introducing ‘wide-bodied’ aircraft to our airport. Thus the size of the aircraft currently using the airport will not increase. This is due to the physical limitations of the runway and the airport itself.”

However, Fiona McKinlay from the local resident’s group Belfast City Airport Watch described the move as an “irreversible nightmare” to the BBC:

“The runway extension will enable airlines to fly aircraft with heavier fuel loads - that means jets will be noisier and will fly lower ... Whatever assurances the airport may provide, the fact remains that there's nothing to stop airlines using big jets on all 48,000 of its permitted annual flights.”

Some (more) movement at Belfast City Airport … and some questions.

In an announcement* that’s been long expected, the Department of the Environment have increased the permissible capacity of the recently sold Belfast City Airport.

• The maximum number of flights is up 3,000 to 48,000 per year, but now includes previously non-counted flights (private jets and non-commercial aircraft).
  
• The “seats for sale” limit has been increased by a third up to 2 million passengers. Clarification at 5.30pm - that's seats on sale for 2 million passengers flying out from Belfast City, with another 2 million passengers assumed to be flying back.
  

The airport’s public figures for flight movements show 41,893 in 2007, well under the limit (assuming there are small numbers of non-commercial flights).

However, the passenger volumes look to be in breach of the current and new target of seats for sale, with 2.1 million passengers in 2006, 2.2 million in 2007, and 1.9 million already in 2008. Will ping an email to the airport to see if there’s a rational explanation. Clarification at 5.30pm - so with a current "seats for sale" of 1.5 million in plus out, that's a current target of 3 million passengers - which this year's projections fall safely below. Next year's maximum would be 4 million (2 million in, 2 million out).

Environment Minister Sammy Wilson explained:

“The modified Planning Agreement represents the outcome of a lengthy, open and transparent review including consultation with Belfast City Council and North Down Borough Council plus the Airport Forum which includes representatives of the local residents’ groups.

Careful consideration has been given to all representations that have been made and I am satisfied that the modified agreement represents a balance between the concerns of the local residents and the economic benefits generated by the airport.”

*No official press release published yet on the Department of the Environment website. Update Tuesday 21 October - a press release backdated to 17 October has today finally been posted on the DOE section of the Northern Ireland Executive news release website.

The C.S. Lewis Belfast International Airport … or maybe Jim Megaw?

Whenever Belfast City Airport announced that they were going to incorporate George Best into the airport name, I remember an online rumour that the other airport would join the trend and become the Gloria Hunniford Belfast International Airport.

A flyer with the message below was distributed to delegates at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in June.

I have a dream –

“ The C.S. Lewis Belfast International Airport.”

At a time when many people feel downhearted and many Christians feel under attack, I would like to share a vision which is positive, uplifting and will be appreciated by literally millions of people around the world. My vision is that we name Belfast International Airport “The C.S. Lewis Belfast International Airport.”

C.S. Lewis is Belfast’s, Ulster’s and Ireland’s most famous, widely read, quoted and popular person. Literary criticism, Christian Doctrine, children’s fantasy, allegory, science fiction, letters and a diary describing his experience of bereavement – he was a literary giant and most of his work is still in print. Most of the people flying into Belfast International Airport will know who C.S. Lewis is; that he came from Belfast may surprise them. Let us honour this great man and remind the world that Ireland is truly a land of saints and scholars sometimes both in one person.

God bless you.

Rev. Jack Lamb, minister/teaching elder, Townsend Street Presbyterian Church, Belfast

If you share my vision please consider telling your local minister of the Gospel, councillor, MLA, MP and MEP. With your help I believe this dream can come true.

It’s unfortunate that C.S. Lewis is best known for his childhood in East Belfast, closer to the City Airport than the International!

And while C.S. Lewis is certainly a worth export that Northern Ireland can be proud of, if there was justice in the world, shouldn’t someone be suggesting that it become the Jim Megaw Belfast International Airport?

Local airports battle press releases - bmibaby switch operations to Belfast City, and Iceland Express land (occasionally) at Belfast International

In a remarkably successful attempt to divert some of the media spotlight away from Belfast City Airport this morning, rival Belfast International pushed out news that Iceland Express will be launching a direct* twice weekly service to Reykjavik on Mondays and Fridays from 10 June 2011.

In a veiled reference to the other airline news, Aldergrove’s Business Development Director, Uel Hoey commented

"As a committed and integral supporter of NI plc, our priority is to invest in the provision of new and vital direct access channels from key source markets. The aim should always be to develop the market, not simply splinter or replicate services to the detriment of the local economy.

We are not in the business of simply re-arranging the existing business in the market with the aim of satisfying some short term objectives. We continue to strive to have the broad regional objectives of our business recognised and supported by Northern Ireland's policy-makers."

Meow!

So the other local airline news.

Last night, I posted about obvious oddities with bmibaby’s website, showing Belfast City Airport offering more than just bmi’s route to London Heathrow.

It turns out that bmibaby are putting all their toys back into their pram and wheeling them down the M2 to Belfast City Airport in January. The last bmibaby flight will leave Belfast International on 9 January, with operations restarting at the harbour airport from the morning of 10 January. Destinations will continue to be Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and East Midlands Airport.

Update 1 - Notable that the BBC news page that earlier just covered the International/Reykjavik announcement now relegates that to the last paragraph and concentrates on the City/bmibaby move. The news cycle has caught up. UTV have merged the two stories together now, with bmibaby trumping Iceland Express.

Update 2 - It's a direct flight from Reykjavik to Belfast International, but as James points out, the return leg is via Edinburgh. Iceland Express fly triangular routes.

bmibaby website oddity ... either that or they’re the new carrier being announced tomorrow by Belfast City Airport (updated)

Could bmibaby be about to about to rival the existing Belfast City to Glasgow and Edinburgh routes offered by Flybe? (Maybe they could advertise as the non-smoking route.)

bmibaby have long included older brother BMI’s Belfast City / Heathrow route in their booking system.

However, trying to book flights from the harbour airport to Edinburgh or Glasgow on the bmibaby website, even for dates well into the future, sends you to Hanover via Heathrow and not Scotland!

Belfast City Airport are making an announcement on Thursday morning about a new airline that will be starting operations in the near future. However, since they’re denying that bmibaby is the new “arrival”, the website oddity will have to be put down to faulty configuration on bmibaby’s website rather than a schedule announcement that hasn’t been fully programmed end-to-end through bmi group’s IT systems.

So if bmibaby aren’t coming, then it’ll either have to be a small airline or a charter firm going no further than southern France or Spain.

Update - bmibaby announced that they're moving their entire NI operations to Belfast City Airport, with flights starting on 10 January.

Forget the self-service check-in printouts, just flash your mobile at security for bmi flights out of Belfast City Airport

The Belfast Telegraph ran a story today about a bmi check-in experiment about to descend on Belfast City Airport.

It’s an extension to the online check-in and seat reservation service on flybmi.com. Passengers on Belfast City – Heathrow flights will also be given the option of getting a barcode sent to their mobiles, which will allow them to pass through security and the boarding gate by showing the barcode on their phone.

The pilot begins in mid-May, and will initially only work for flights out of Belfast City to Heathrow. Once the kinks are ironed out, bmi say that they“are confident it will roll out to the rest of our flights.”

Details are scarce, but the service is likely to rely on mobiles being able to receive and display incoming MMS messages, and may not be available to passengers checking in hold baggage.

But soon it might be time to ditch the hassle of wandering around hotels and offices trying to find a PC hooked up to a printer that you can borrow for a few minutes to print off your electronic boarding card. Instead, it'll be a few clicks, and your mobile will go beep.

PS: still no reply from either Ryanair or Belfast City Airport about Ryanair's hard-to-believe claims that 80% of their flights use flightpaths over Belfast Lough.

Update - Sunday 13 April - Someone who left East Belfast forty years ago for the shores of Canada emailed this afternoon to point to a recent article in the NY Times highlighting Continental Airline's similar trial.

Exploring Belfast City Airport // Five minutes in the life of a piece of hold baggage

Ever wondered what happens to your suitcase after you set it down on the scales and it judders onto the conveyor belt behind the check-in desk?

I remember travelling home through Sheffield Airport one evening about five or six years ago. The conveyor belt at the side of the check-in desk didn’t move. Instead a man in overalls appeared and lifted my small case and carried it over to a door, went outside and loaded it by hand into the hold of the small aircraft. Later, he held the same door open as a handful of us walked out to board the aircraft. And before the plane taxied back from its stand, he had changed into a fireman’s uniform and was heading towards the airfield’s fire truck. A one man operation.

At Belfast City Airport, it’s a bit bigger, busier and more sophisticated. In fact, each bag goes on quite a magical adventure. And late one afternoon last week, I got a chance to discover what happened.

Shunting past the check in desk and rolling onto the conveyor belt running along the back of all the check-in desks, your bag vanishes through the wall into the baggage handling area behind.

Passengers and their hand luggage go through the scanners and X-ray machines in the main security hall before being allowed to go airside and wait to board their flights. In a parallel operation, each item of hold baggage is checked before it can join its owner on-board the flight.

Shunted through the wall, your bag will move onto a spiral conveyor belt and corkscrew its way upstairs.

It’ll spend the next minute travelling through an eerily dark upper floor.

A floor filled with belts, gates, blinking lights, and – crucially – an X-ray machine. (Obviously the lights were switched on while we were up there, otherwise the rest of the photographs would look similarly gloomy.)

Your bag will move from belt to belt, passing through a scanner which can detect a range of suspect and unwanted materials. The imaging of many bags will show nothing untoward and they will continue to travel through the channels of belt.

If the scanner sniffs certain substances it can automatically raise the alarm without further human intervention. Silent alarms go off, commandos descend on ropes from the ceiling, and miniature robotic helicopters hover around your suspect bag and use high powered lasers to neutralise the threat inside. (Disclaimer – I may have made that last sentence up.)

My suitcase with its 4-way coiled extension lead, spare laptop batteries, network cables and phone chargers may be flagged for closer inspection. Images of bags whose contents warrant human eyes to check the X-ray image (and verify what’s inside) are beamed to security staff downstairs.

While the your suspect bag sails on out the far side of the X-ray machine, the staff have 15 seconds or so to look at the X-ray images and make a decision about the bag’s contents. If it’s ok, it’ll continue down the happy path, inching closer to the plane.

If security don’t like what they see – or if they’re busy and don’t get time to make a decision – the system will automatically block your bag from following the safe route, and will instead divert it downstairs for manual scanning. Ultimately, you may be called back to open the back and allow the contents to be searched properly.

All the while it’s travelling through the dark maze of belts and machinery, infrared scanners read the barcodes affixed to the sides of your bag, tracking its progress to make sure it doesn’t get stuck or end up in the wrong place.

Finally, once your bag has passed through security and been deemed safe, it moves back down to ground level. Baggage handlers look at flight numbers on the labels and lift the bags off the belt and place them into the trailer destined for your flight. “Bingo cards” display the flight number prominently on each trailer ...

From there it’s a short trip out to the side of the aircraft. Your bag still hasn’t travel anywhere near as far as you will, snaking your way through security, up to the shops, cafes and airline lounges, before returning downstairs and making your way along the cold, long corridor to your gate and out to your plane.

I’ll explore outside in a later post. Thanks to the staff at Belfast City Airport for offering the tour.

Icy, foggy ... not good on the roads or the airports

It’s really bad when it’s so cold outside that you need to scrape the inside of your windscreen because it has iced up ... hence the white dandruff scattered across the dashboard. A good thick coating ... after five minutes the car’s air blower hadn’t made much of a dent in it.

After last week’s fogginess that badly affected flights in and out of Belfast City Airport, I asked the airport if they’d any plans for CAT III instrument landing facilities ... no reply yet.

But this morning, the heavy fog over Belfast has once again caused major disruption over at St Georges.

The early morning arrival from Heathrow diverted to Belfast International (Aldergrove). Ryanair’s flight from East Midlands diverted to their base in City of Derry ... quite a bus journey if you want to get your car out of the car park!

Departures aren’t looking good ... though the Flybe to Gatwick is about to leave a mere two hours late.

Up at Belfast International, the fog is having much less impact with only the bmibaby arrival from East Midlands badly delayed.

George Best at the Airport

Belfast City Airport was renamed to George Best Belfast City Airport today. In a ceremony carried out on what would have been George Best’s 60th birthday, his father unveiled the new signage.

Over the weekend, the famous East Belfast footballer’s name had been added to the top right of the existing sign, and covered up with a banner. Other than the main terminal signage, a single green road sign on the entry slip road, and a billboard poster for the George Best charitable foundation, there aren’t many signs of Best’s impact on the airport. Other than the marquee that will be gone by dusk.

I suspect that most operators will continue to know the airport as Belfast City Airport, or more plainly, the Harbour.

If you could name something in Belfast (or Northern Ireland) after a celebrity (dead or alive), what would it be?

A bus to take you to the plane ... at Belfast City Airport?

Planes at Belfast City Airport are normally just a hop, skip and a jump from the terminal. This morning, imagine my surprise at being shepherded onto a bus with the other nine passengers!

Maybe they're practicing for later in the year when Ryanair parks its big planes on the runway and they run out of gates next to the terminal?

The Cityjet turboprop (Air France) was parked down outside the old terminal.

Maybe the City Airport should now reopen it as Terminal 2?

(By the way, the Cityjet/Air France flight from Belfast City to London City is surprisingly good. Took off early, flight time of 70 minutes. And not too bumpy. At the London end, Air France had me checked onto the flight somewhere between leaving the train platform and before entering the terminal building! And the driverless Docklands Light Railway trains in and out of the London City Airport are fun. Note that ticket prices seem cheaper the further apart the outbound and return dates.)

Web booking discrepancies - eg, Belfast City Airport's car park cancellation process

Every online booking journey seems to be unique.

While the processes for checkout and even order cancellation at big name retailers like Amazon are well oiled and well understood, smaller organisations offering online payment are often more haphazard in nature.

Tonight, booking a car park place in Belfast City Airport's long stay car park for the end of October, I wondered what would happen if my flight changed or I needed to cancel?

The FAQ on the website had good news. If I gave them more than 48 hours notice, I'd get a full refund.

For those products that can be cancelled, you may cancel your booking up to 48 hours prior to your scheduled departure time at no charge.

The text in the confirmation email was less clear cut.

Cancellations are subject to the terms and conditions of your booking. Please note should you wish to cancel your booking, a cancellation fee will apply. No refund is available for unused or part stays

So which is it? Full refund with 48 hours notice? Or cancellation fees? While Belfast City Airport is a timely example, there have been other examples I've stumbled across in the past week. Clarity and consistency at the different stages of the booking process would be helpful from all retailers.

PS: Booking a space in the long stay car park at the City Airport is currently cheaper for 7-15 days (flat rate offer of £30) than booking for 5 days (£38.50). I wonder whether there's any penalty for leaving the car park early?