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. The airport handled over 2.7 million passengers in 2010, a record total for the airport, though the total fell to around 2.2 million in 2012. 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.
GEORGE BEST BELFAST CITY AIRPORT HISTORY
Sydenham Airport was established by Shorts beside its Belfast factory at Sydenham, Belfast in 1937. This became Belfast’s main civilian airport from 1938 to 1939. The airfield was requisitioned by the Royal Navy during the Second World War and named HMS Gadwall. RAF Nutts Corner then became Belfast’s main airport (while Aldergrove would later become the primary airport in Northern Ireland). The Sydenham airfield continued to be used for military purposes until the 1970s, after which it was used by Shorts. In 1983, following interest from airlines and customers, the airfield was opened for commercial flights as Belfast Harbour Airport (subsequently Belfast City Airport and now in its current guise).
GEORGE BEST BELFAST CITY AIRPORT LOCATION
George Best Belfast City Airport (IATA: BHD, ICAO: EGAC) is a single-runway airport in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
GEORGE BEST BELFAST CITY AIRPORT FACTS
ICAO/IATA: BHD/EGAC
Lat: 54.61809921264648
Long: -5.87249994277954
Elevation: 15 ft.
Runway length available: 04/22 6001×148 ft.
