PAUL WILSON

Ryanair has announced it will launch three new routes from George Best Belfast City Airport putting an end to months of speculation as to which airport the low-cost giant would chose.

Announcing the new flights Ryanair said it would commence three daily flights to East Midlands, Glasgow and Liverpool airports beginning in November.

These three routes may seem a modest offering from Europe's biggest and most successful airline; initial speculation had touted up to eight new routes to destinations such as Paris, Brussels, Barcelona, Rome, and either Katowice or Warsaw in Poland, - as well as and three UK mainland destinations.

But speaking at the launch Ryanair's Head of Communications Peter Sherrard said: " We expect these three new routes to be just the start of Ryanair's presence in Belfast and we look forward to opening further routes to Continental Europe within the coming year.

"Today's new routes to East Midlands, Glasgow and Liverpool are good news for business and tourism and will deliver 270,000 passengers per annum, generating a visitor spend of £40,000,000 and sustaining 270 local jobs".

The move is clearly good news for Belfast City Airport. Only 10 minutes from Belfast City Centre, its central locality helped beat off competion from The International Airport.

Brian Ambrose, Chief Executive of George Best Belfast City Airport said: "I'm delighted to welcome Ryanair to the airport. The domestic routes announced today coupled with Ryanair's commitment to an expanding European route portfolio from this airport is great news - great news for the economy, for tourism and for the consumer with greater choice from the heart of Belfast."

However, with a restriction on passenger numbers and a ban on nighttime flying after 9.30pm, the ramifications for Belfast City Airport are clear.

With the suggestion that Ryanair would phase in its eight new routes over a period of time with a target of establishing a customer base of three quarters of a million passengers by 2012, some restrictions at the airport would have to be lifted.

And there is also speculation that the airport will soon tender for an extension to the existing runway - something which has caused considerable protest among residents near the City of Derry airport after Ryanair insisted that it go ahead to accommodate its new aircraft.

But there are no such pressures being applied to Belfast City Airport and at present Michael O'Leary's fast-growing airline seems happy with its lot: due to runway restrictions Ryanair's modern Boeing 737-800 series will be restricted to carrying 140 passengers at take-off, although in-coming flights can land with a full complement of passengers.

The good news for local travellers is that prices are bound to drop as competition with rivals easyJet, based at Belfast International Airport, heats up.

Speaking at the Ryanair launch Peter Sherrard said: "Ryanair looks forward to bringing Europe's lowest fares to the people of Belfast and to transforming travel from Northern Ireland by offering flights for a tiny faction of easyJet's high fares".

In August easyJet welcomed passengers on board its inaugural flight from Belfast International Airport to Ibiza, bringing the total number of routes available from Northern Ireland to 20.

Now Aer Lingus have confirmed that they will be setting up a UK base at Belfast International, with a new Belfast International to Heathrow service due to start in January and a number of other European destinations are also on the way.