George Best Belfast City Airport (IATA: BHD, ICAO: EGAC) is a single-runway airport in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Situated adjacent to the Port of Belfast it is 3 mi (5 km) from Belfast City Centre. It shares the site with the Short Brothers/Bombardier aircraft manufacturing facility. The airport began commercial operations in 1983.
The airport was formerly known as "Belfast City Airport" until it was renamed in 2006 in memory of George Best, the professional footballer from Belfast, best known for his time with Manchester United.
The airport handled over 2.7 million passengers in 2010, a record total for the airport, though the total fell by 12.5% to 2.4 million in 2011.
The airport is a major base for Flybe, which began operations at the airport in 1993 and is now the largest operator at Belfast City.
Belfast City has a CAA public use aerodrome licence (number P862) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.
In June 2012, BMI subsidiary bmibaby ceased all routes from Belfast City, leading Flybe to increase schedule frequency on some routes.
Read more about George Best Belfast City Airport: History, Present Day, Expansion Plans and Objections, Renaming in Memory of George Best, Airlines and Destinations, Passenger Statistics
Famous quotes containing the words belfast, city and/or airport:
“Is it true or false that Belfast is north of London? That the galaxy is the shape of a fried egg? That Beethoven was a drunkard? That Wellington won the battle of Waterloo? There are various degrees and dimensions of success in making statements: the statements fit the facts always more or less loosely, in different ways on different occasions for different intents and purposes.”
—J.L. (John Langshaw)
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—James Fenton (b. 1949)
“It was like taking a beloved person to the airport and returning to an empty house. I miss the people. I miss the world.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)