Whitbread commits to further expansion in Northern Ireland with new Premier Inn at Belfast International Airport..and is 'actively looking' for three more sites

Whitbread PLC, the UK’s leading hospitality company and owner of Premier Inn, has committed to opening an 81-bedroom Premier Inn hotel at Belfast International Airport.

The company, which currently operates seven Premier Inn hotels in Northern Ireland, signed an agreement-for-lease with JHT Hotels Limited, a subsidiary of Northern Ireland developer J H Turkington and Sons in late December, paving the way for the delivery of the new hotel in 2026.

The deal is the latest in a series of investments by Whitbread in UK airport locations. Since September 2024 the company has added more than 550 Premier Inn bedrooms at Manchester, Edinburgh, and Belfast Airports as part of its strategic growth plan.

Currently, in its main UK and Ireland market, the business operates more than 85,500 bedrooms from 855 locations and has an ambition to expand its offer to 125,000 UK & Ireland rooms.

The Belfast Airport development will bring Premier Inn’s signature combination of quality and affordability to Northern Ireland’s busiest airport, and a travel hub serving around six million passengers a year (2023) travelling to 55 domestic and international destinations.

The hotel will feature an on-site restaurant and bar, dedicated parking facilities with 125 car spaces and seven mobility-impaired spaces, landscaped grounds, and improved site access.

Local planning authority Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council granted planning permission for the development in mid-November 2024, paving the way for construction of the new hotel to begin in 2025. Around 30 new permanent roles will be created at the hotel when the doors open in mid-2026.

Jill Anderson, acquisition manager for Whitbread, said: “Securing such a prime location at Belfast International Airport reinforces our commitment to growing our network in key travel hubs across the UK and Ireland. The site offers an exceptional opportunity to serve the airport’s six million passengers annually, providing them with the quality, comfort, and affordability Premier Inn is known for.

"The Belfast acquisition is the third airport hotel Whitbread has signed in six months, reflecting the consistently strong and growing demand for travel and the excellent investment opportunities these locations offer.”

The new Belfast International Airport hotel will be constructed at the junctions of Airport Road, Antrim Road and British Roads – opposite the airport’s popular long-stay car park and within easy walking distance of the airport terminal building.

It is the first Premier Inn to be built in Northern Ireland since the opening of Premier Inn Lisburn hotel in 2019, with Whitbread set to invest more than £6 million in the new hotel (on a capitalised lease expenditure basis)

Beyond Belfast, Whitbread is actively looking for new locations for Premier Inn in Belfast City Centre, Enniskillen and Newry to add to its network of trading hotels in Belfast, Bangor, Carrickfergus, Lisburn and Derry / Londonderry.