Belfast’s two airports rank among the UK’s busiest

A ranking by TripSIM has compared passenger numbers at 45 UK airports in 2025, with both Belfast airports placing in the top 20.

Belfast International ranks 10th, with 6,677,021 passengers, while George Best Belfast City Airport places 16th with 2,363,716. Together, the two airports handled 9,040,737 passengers in 2025. Heathrow leads the UK ranking with 84,462,273.

The results place Belfast International among the 10 busiest airports in the country and show the combined scale of passenger traffic through the city’s two airports.

The UK’s 10 busiest airports in 2025

• Heathrow — 84,462,273

• Gatwick — 42,769,164

• Manchester — 32,061,307

• Stansted — 29,758,490

• Luton — 17,768,944

• Edinburgh — 16,969,731

• Birmingham — 13,660,382

• Bristol — 10,832,713

• Glasgow — 8,205,280

• Belfast International — 6,677,021

Methodology: The ranking ordered the 45 airports in the supplied dataset by total 2025 passenger numbers, using CAA annual airport statistics. The figures are terminal passenger totals, not unique traveller counts.