£15m upgrade on way for George Best Belfast City Airport

The investment includes an upgrade of the central security area and hold baggage screening facilities, as well as the purchase of a new fleet of Airport Fire appliances.

There will be in excess of a 30% increase in retail space, with an expanded offering from World Duty Free and WH Smith. Food and beverage facilities will be expanded by 25%.

Customer seating will be more than doubled, as will airside customer washroom facilities.

The work will be completed by October 2018.

Brian Ambrose, chief executive of Belfast City Airport, said: “The upgrading of our departure lounge and retail offering will provide greater choice and significantly enhance the experience for our core business and leisure passengers as they travel through the airport.

“The strategic designs help future-proof the airport and we look forward to continuing what has been a successful period across many areas of our business.”

The new terminal reconfiguration was designed by Todd Architects and the main elements of the refit will be carried out by H&J Martin.

Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said “This investment is excellent news for Belfast and for tourism to Northern Ireland. As an island, direct, convenient and competitive air access is critical to delivering growth in inbound tourism and any improvement in the experience of our overseas visitors, including travelling through our airports, is very much welcomed.”