Chapter 7 - Northern Ireland
Key issues
7.1 Given its geographical location, good air links to Great Britain are particularly important for Northern Ireland, and its future economic development. Northern Ireland is well served for travel to and from London and other parts of Great Britain, but currently only has one direct connection with an airport on the European mainland. A route development fund has been announced by the Northern Ireland Administration, a key aim of which is to improve international connectivity.
7.2 The aviation market in Northern Ireland is split between Belfast City which caters for full scheduled services, Belfast International which has attracted 'no-frills', charter and freight traffic and City of Derry Airport which has a catchment mainly in the north west of the Province and Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. There is some evidence of passengers travelling to and from Northern Ireland using airports in the Republic of Ireland, particularly Dublin, but the scale of this is not clear.
7.3 How to address this cross-border 'leakage' was one of a number of issues raised by the consultation document - in this case, the route development fund has provided a potentially significant policy response. Other issues were where future increments of airport capacity should be located, regional access and airport competition. The latter was superseded following the sale of Belfast City, and we have therefore focused in this section of the White Paper on airport capacity. Access to London airports is discussed in Chapter 4.
Main conclusions
7.4 The conclusions in this section have been drawn up in the light of responses to the consultation document for Northern Ireland.1 They take account of the views of the Northern Ireland Administration, which has responsibility in Northern Ireland for airports policy and legislation, land use planning and surface transport, amongst other matters related to air transport.
7.5 The principal conclusions are that the Northern Ireland authorities should review the form of the planning agreement at Belfast City should the airport operator ask them to do so; that the scope to develop capacity within Belfast International's existing boundaries is significant and should be supported; and the future development of City of Derry Airport needs early consideration in conjunction with the Government of the Republic of Ireland. All developments will need careful environmental assessment.
Belfast City Airport
7.6 Belfast City Airport is conveniently located close to the city centre, and has an above average proportion of business traffic, as a result of providing a wide range of scheduled services to destinations within the UK. Our forecasts suggest a potential demand of slightly over 4mppa by 2030.
7.7 However, the airport does face significant operational constraints. These include the length of its runway, and the planning controls imposed as a condition of its development. The most important of these are: the requirement that air transport movements should not exceed 45,000 a year; an early evening and night scheduling curfew; and a restriction on the number of aircraft seats provided, broadly equivalent to an airport capacity of 2.2mppa. Forecasts suggest that this level of traffic could be reached within the next five years.
7.8 Belfast City is also one of only four airports in the EU designated as a 'city airport' in EU Directive 2002/30/EC, which potentially allows the imposition of more stringent noise-related operating restrictions than at other airports in the EU, if desired.
7.9 We recognise the desirability of maintaining suitable controls on the environmental impacts of the airport, given the large number of people who live in the vicinity and are affected by aircraft noise. At the same time, the airport does have an important role as a transport gateway in the economic life of Northern Ireland. As is the case with many airports elsewhere, we recognise that a balance needs to be struck between these conflicting environmental and economic factors. However, we believe there may be scope to devise controls that would limit the local environmental disbenefits of Belfast City Airport without severely constraining the potential economic benefits which the airport could provide. We therefore invite the Northern Ireland authorities to review the form of the planning agreement, if and when they are so requested by the airport operator.
Belfast International Airport
7.10 Belfast International Airport (formerly known as Aldergrove) is by far the largest airport in Northern Ireland, and is likely to remain so. By 2030, forecasts suggest demand may increase from around 4mppa currently to between 8mppa and 9mppa.
7.11 The airport has developed a strong presence in the 'no-frills' and charter markets, and its runway length (c.2700m) means that it is also able to serve long-haul services should airlines wish to develop these. It is situated in a sparsely populated area, and is able to operate 24 hours a day. As a result, it is the major freight and flown mail airport in Northern Ireland, and we envisage that these activities will also continue to expand.
7.12 It has adequate space within the airport boundary to serve the whole of the forecast demand and well beyond. We therefore support the development of the airport within the existing airport boundaries to serve the forecast passenger and freight demand in full, subject to consideration of any local environmental impacts.
City of Derry Airport
7.13 Unlike the other two Northern Ireland airports, City of Derry Airport is in public ownership and serves the market for air services in the north west of the island of Ireland. It provides services to a limited range of destinations, but could have potential to develop routes to a number of others.
7.14 The airport is regarded as having an important role in facilitating access to the north west of the Province and Donegal in the Republic of Ireland, and in contributing to the development of the area. Proposals for a runway extension are currently under consideration and give rise to a number of technical, economic and competition issues outside the scope of this White Paper. Given the cross-border nature of the market served by the airport, the Northern Ireland authorities will want to consider the airport's future infrastructure requirements carefully, in conjunction with the Government of the Republic of Ireland.
Surface access
7.15 Surface access links to Northern Ireland's three major airports are unlikely to require any significant enhancements before 2015. The existing roads and bus links are considered adequate to cater for the levels of growth envisaged. Beyond that date, the Northern Ireland authorities will need to consider the need for, and timing of, possible improvements to the A2 to Belfast City Airport and the junctions serving it and the single carriageway access provided by the A26 to Belfast International. A shuttle bus already serves Belfast City from Sydenham station, but the business case for a rail link to Belfast International is unlikely to arise much before the end of the White Paper period, if at all.
