Post by viscount on May 30, 2015 13:41:27 GMT 1
This account of operators on the Liverpool to Belfast route over the past 70 years was compiled by Brian Jones for FoLA's '09/27' magazine Spring 2015 issue. Now three months since first published, with Flybe having now joined EasyJet between the two cities, a timely look at the background to a major UK domestic air route.
While the pioneering and early development of routes across the Irish Sea in the 1930s is a fascinating topic, only with the advances of technology during the Second World War years did scheduled services become year round and regular operation. With a number of airfields built around Northern Ireland for military operations during WWII, the initial airport used for passenger services to Belfast post war was Sydenham, soon transferring to Nutts Corner, 14th December 1946. Overnight on 26th September 1963 all commercial operations transferred to a new terminal at Aldergrove, now known as Belfast International. However since 1983 Sydenham Airport, also at various times known as Belfast Harbour, Belfast City and George Best Airport has provided a more convenient gateway for many passengers into Belfast.
Like the other two major Irish Sea routes from Liverpool, to Dublin and to the Isle of Man, the important Belfast connection has operated more or less continually since the mid 1930’s. During the wartime years Railway Air Services through the AAJC continued the civil air link to Northern Ireland into Sydenham mainly with DH.86 aircraft. Post war, with the nationalisation of British airlines, with an official formation date of 1st February 1947 the Speke to Belfast, Nutts Corner route was served by British European Airways, initially likely with Dragon Rapides, although Avro 19s and even for a short period Junkers Ju.52 trimotors served in the transition handover period. Soon BEA settled on the Douglas Dakota as their best equipment for the service. For a while from 6th October 1948 Aer Lingus operated alongside BEA with a service flown by their Vickers Viking aircraft, but was short-lived.
B.E.A’s Dakotas served on the Speke to Nutts Corner service for many years until being replaced by Viscount 701s from 1st April 1960, although with the introduction of pressurised, larger,newer aircraft came the penalty that all services now operated via the Isle of Man. From April 1962 some flights operate Birmingham-Speke-Nutts Corner with Viscount 800s. When B.E.A. handed over many of its shorter Irish Sea routes to Cambrian Airways from 1st April 1963, the Speke-Nutts Corner route was included. Cambrian did not operate into there long as from 26th September 1963 all Belfast operations overnight moved across to Aldergrove. Cambrian operated the majority of the Liverpool-Belfast flights via the Isle of Man. They uprated their fleet from Viscount 700s to Viscount 800s and became part of BAS (British Air Services) along with BKS. Indeed each winter from 4th November 1968 until 31st March 1976 BKS and later as Northeast operated a winter only service Leeds-Liverpool-Belfast. On 1st April 1976 British Airways absorbed BAS along with Cambrian and Northeast into the mainline operation and soon the Viscount 800s were in full BA colours. It would appear that in 1976 BA carried 28,717 passenger LPL-BFS and in 1977 just 22,877 passengers.
History effectively repeated itself in late 1978 as British Airways again withdrew from its shorter Irish Sea routes, this time passing the licence for the services across to British Midland Airways. BA flew its last IoM and Belfast flight on Saturday 28th October 1978, BMA operating its first on Sunday 29th with Viscount 800s. BMA did increase the passenger numbers, with 51,666 pax carried in 1980, but struggled to make money on their Irish Sea flights as numbers fell to 32,808 in 1981 and 29,521 in 1982. So in 1982 BMA linked up with Air UK to form a new airline, home based on the Isle of Man in an attempt to turn around the fortunes of their ailing Irish Sea routes. Thus Manx Airlines was formed and began operations on 1st November 1982, although the Liverpool-Belfast flights all called at the Isle of Man en route. The service was operated by Friendship, Short 330s, 360s and BAe.ATP equipment at various times. With the opening of the former Royal Navy and Short Bros factory airfield at Sydenham to civilian airline operation, from May 1983 Manx transferred their service from Aldergrove . In the first full year of operations, 1983, Manx carried 28,088 passengers between the cities. Boosted by moving to Liverpool’s new terminal in April 1986, Belfast loads grew rapidly in 1987 to 44,026 passengers, this progressively increased to 75,876 in 1991, but then progressively fell until 59,080 were carried in 1996, after which the annual fall was even more marked. The Liverpool-Belfast service was passed across to Manx Airlines Europe, although passengers would have not noticed the difference. From 9th January 1995 they became a British Airways franchise operator, and as British Regional Airlines continued Liverpool to Belfast Harbour flights with Jetstream 41 and BAe.ATP aircraft, increasingly with direct flights in aircraft in full BA colours. However the route did not really fit into the rest of their network, and facing stiff competition gradually reduced in frequency and with that the number of passengers fell away. In March 2001 BA purchased BRAL and Manx, and with the service down to just 4 flights a week during May 2001 BA Citiexpress finished linking Liverpool and Belfast City Airport on the 18th May. In the 12 months of 2000 only 45,631 passengers were carried on the route.
The competition on the Liverpool to Belfast route was provided by EasyJet, who with Boeing 737-300 aircraft commenced services from Liverpool to Aldergrove on 15th July 1999, Aldergrove having not been served from Liverpool since May 1983. History shows that commencing a link between Liverpool and Belfast was well timed by EasyJet, with the ’98 Good Friday agreement and democratic Assembly elections, after a shaky start becoming a lasting period of peace and growing prosperity in Northern Ireland. The service quickly became a very successful link once flown by jet aircraft with ‘lo-co’ fares that encouraged air travel, and has successively been upgraded to Boeing 737-700 aircraft and now mostly by Airbus A.319, with some flights operated by Airbus A.320s when required. The service continues successfully to this day, although with increased competition from bmi baby and Jet2, from Manchester, passenger numbers have fallen from their peak of 561,771 in 2003 to a low of 334,181 in 2010, with growth again since then, back up to around 444,000 in 2013 with a small drop down to around 415,600 in 2014 due to alterations in service frequency. EasyJet have made the Liverpool to Belfast link the busiest UK domestic route outside of those serving London’s airports.
EasyJet’s success flying between Liverpool and Belfast did not go unnoticed by other airlines, keen for a share of the market. On 10th February 2005 Flybe commenced operation on the Liverpool John Lennon Airport to Belfast City connection using their Dash 8-Q400 aircraft. However they were not fully committed to the service, gradually reducing frequency, until pulling-out on 24th March 2007. In their only full year of operation, 2006 they carried 51,074 passengers. However it was only a few months before Ryanair moved onto the service, 30th October 2007, undaunted by directly taking on EasyJet’s Aldergrove link. In the full year of 2008 they carried 155,155 passengers, with a similar number 158,732 in 2009, and did even better in the first 10 months of 2010 carrying 182,712 passengers. However, in disgust at what Ryanair viewed as intolerable delays and broken promises in lengthening the runway to enable their Boeing 737-800 to operate out of City with full passenger loads, they withdrew their service on 30th October 2010. Flybe saw this as a great opportunity to cash-in on the market created by Ryanair, so the following day, 31st October, they commenced George Best to John Lennon flights. However at the time Flybe were also building-up their Manchester hub, and Liverpool-Belfast did not fit their network, so after a year, on 7th November 2011 withdrew to concentrate on Manchester services to reduce costs. In the first 2 months they carried 12,553 passengers, with a further 73,000 or so in the first 10 months of 2011.
It came as somewhat ‘out of the blue’, when during Autumn 2014, Flybe announced its intention to once again link Liverpool John Lennon and Belfast George Best. The initial announcement of twice daily weekday flights and once each on Saturday and Sunday was raised to three week-daily before the service commenced on Monday 2nd February 2015 at 17 rotations per week and soon after increased to 23 per week from 29th March. Hopefully Flybe are really committed this time to make the service a long-term feature of their Irish Sea route network. In 2016 Flybe carried around 97,000 passengers and in 2017 95,499. However the frequency of service was massively cut back in 2018, so only 28,815 passengers were carried that year. With poor financial results published in October 2018 and a subsequent review of routes and yields, the route was yet again been axed by Flybe. This third attempt at making Belfast City to Liverpool work for the airline had lasted the longest, but the final regular service is to be flown in December 2018, with a few well forward-booked flights operating until May 2019, carrying just 263 passengers.
Meanwhile EasyJet continue to operate Liverpool to Belfast International with a mix of Airbus A.319s and A.320s. In 2016 passenger loads had increased again, with EasyJet at 453,000 and Flybe 97,000. Nearly all EasyJet flights are operated by Liverpool based aircraft. In 2017 EasyJet carried slightly less passengers at 422,815.
During 2018 the figure increased again with 496,483 passengers carried, however nearly half a million passengers was still short of the 2003 peak but a great improvement over the low in 2010. On a Saturday morning flight, operated by a Belfast based aircraft the airline brought the first of their new Airbus A.320NEO aircraft into Liverpool late summer 2018. The results for 2019 were only slightly down, at 484,891. With the Covid-19 pandemic hitting transport hard with the first of several 'lock-downs', the total for 2020 fell back to 192,164. With Belfast an important internal UK flight and a life-line service for Northern Ireland residents, there was a substantial increase in 2021 to 263,541 passengers. A fair recovery to over quarter of million passengers.
A new chapter opens in summer '22, with EasyJet introducing a once daily service between Liverpool John Lennon and Belfast City alongside its well established Belfast International service. In the past competition enabling both Belfast Airports to be served from Liverpool has added considerably to the total annual passengers figures between the cities. It is to be hoped that pattern will repeat, even with the same airline serving both destinations.
Original text May 2015. Revised April 2022.
The Liverpool to Belfast Air Link, a History
While the pioneering and early development of routes across the Irish Sea in the 1930s is a fascinating topic, only with the advances of technology during the Second World War years did scheduled services become year round and regular operation. With a number of airfields built around Northern Ireland for military operations during WWII, the initial airport used for passenger services to Belfast post war was Sydenham, soon transferring to Nutts Corner, 14th December 1946. Overnight on 26th September 1963 all commercial operations transferred to a new terminal at Aldergrove, now known as Belfast International. However since 1983 Sydenham Airport, also at various times known as Belfast Harbour, Belfast City and George Best Airport has provided a more convenient gateway for many passengers into Belfast.
Like the other two major Irish Sea routes from Liverpool, to Dublin and to the Isle of Man, the important Belfast connection has operated more or less continually since the mid 1930’s. During the wartime years Railway Air Services through the AAJC continued the civil air link to Northern Ireland into Sydenham mainly with DH.86 aircraft. Post war, with the nationalisation of British airlines, with an official formation date of 1st February 1947 the Speke to Belfast, Nutts Corner route was served by British European Airways, initially likely with Dragon Rapides, although Avro 19s and even for a short period Junkers Ju.52 trimotors served in the transition handover period. Soon BEA settled on the Douglas Dakota as their best equipment for the service. For a while from 6th October 1948 Aer Lingus operated alongside BEA with a service flown by their Vickers Viking aircraft, but was short-lived.
B.E.A’s Dakotas served on the Speke to Nutts Corner service for many years until being replaced by Viscount 701s from 1st April 1960, although with the introduction of pressurised, larger,newer aircraft came the penalty that all services now operated via the Isle of Man. From April 1962 some flights operate Birmingham-Speke-Nutts Corner with Viscount 800s. When B.E.A. handed over many of its shorter Irish Sea routes to Cambrian Airways from 1st April 1963, the Speke-Nutts Corner route was included. Cambrian did not operate into there long as from 26th September 1963 all Belfast operations overnight moved across to Aldergrove. Cambrian operated the majority of the Liverpool-Belfast flights via the Isle of Man. They uprated their fleet from Viscount 700s to Viscount 800s and became part of BAS (British Air Services) along with BKS. Indeed each winter from 4th November 1968 until 31st March 1976 BKS and later as Northeast operated a winter only service Leeds-Liverpool-Belfast. On 1st April 1976 British Airways absorbed BAS along with Cambrian and Northeast into the mainline operation and soon the Viscount 800s were in full BA colours. It would appear that in 1976 BA carried 28,717 passenger LPL-BFS and in 1977 just 22,877 passengers.
History effectively repeated itself in late 1978 as British Airways again withdrew from its shorter Irish Sea routes, this time passing the licence for the services across to British Midland Airways. BA flew its last IoM and Belfast flight on Saturday 28th October 1978, BMA operating its first on Sunday 29th with Viscount 800s. BMA did increase the passenger numbers, with 51,666 pax carried in 1980, but struggled to make money on their Irish Sea flights as numbers fell to 32,808 in 1981 and 29,521 in 1982. So in 1982 BMA linked up with Air UK to form a new airline, home based on the Isle of Man in an attempt to turn around the fortunes of their ailing Irish Sea routes. Thus Manx Airlines was formed and began operations on 1st November 1982, although the Liverpool-Belfast flights all called at the Isle of Man en route. The service was operated by Friendship, Short 330s, 360s and BAe.ATP equipment at various times. With the opening of the former Royal Navy and Short Bros factory airfield at Sydenham to civilian airline operation, from May 1983 Manx transferred their service from Aldergrove . In the first full year of operations, 1983, Manx carried 28,088 passengers between the cities. Boosted by moving to Liverpool’s new terminal in April 1986, Belfast loads grew rapidly in 1987 to 44,026 passengers, this progressively increased to 75,876 in 1991, but then progressively fell until 59,080 were carried in 1996, after which the annual fall was even more marked. The Liverpool-Belfast service was passed across to Manx Airlines Europe, although passengers would have not noticed the difference. From 9th January 1995 they became a British Airways franchise operator, and as British Regional Airlines continued Liverpool to Belfast Harbour flights with Jetstream 41 and BAe.ATP aircraft, increasingly with direct flights in aircraft in full BA colours. However the route did not really fit into the rest of their network, and facing stiff competition gradually reduced in frequency and with that the number of passengers fell away. In March 2001 BA purchased BRAL and Manx, and with the service down to just 4 flights a week during May 2001 BA Citiexpress finished linking Liverpool and Belfast City Airport on the 18th May. In the 12 months of 2000 only 45,631 passengers were carried on the route.
The competition on the Liverpool to Belfast route was provided by EasyJet, who with Boeing 737-300 aircraft commenced services from Liverpool to Aldergrove on 15th July 1999, Aldergrove having not been served from Liverpool since May 1983. History shows that commencing a link between Liverpool and Belfast was well timed by EasyJet, with the ’98 Good Friday agreement and democratic Assembly elections, after a shaky start becoming a lasting period of peace and growing prosperity in Northern Ireland. The service quickly became a very successful link once flown by jet aircraft with ‘lo-co’ fares that encouraged air travel, and has successively been upgraded to Boeing 737-700 aircraft and now mostly by Airbus A.319, with some flights operated by Airbus A.320s when required. The service continues successfully to this day, although with increased competition from bmi baby and Jet2, from Manchester, passenger numbers have fallen from their peak of 561,771 in 2003 to a low of 334,181 in 2010, with growth again since then, back up to around 444,000 in 2013 with a small drop down to around 415,600 in 2014 due to alterations in service frequency. EasyJet have made the Liverpool to Belfast link the busiest UK domestic route outside of those serving London’s airports.
EasyJet’s success flying between Liverpool and Belfast did not go unnoticed by other airlines, keen for a share of the market. On 10th February 2005 Flybe commenced operation on the Liverpool John Lennon Airport to Belfast City connection using their Dash 8-Q400 aircraft. However they were not fully committed to the service, gradually reducing frequency, until pulling-out on 24th March 2007. In their only full year of operation, 2006 they carried 51,074 passengers. However it was only a few months before Ryanair moved onto the service, 30th October 2007, undaunted by directly taking on EasyJet’s Aldergrove link. In the full year of 2008 they carried 155,155 passengers, with a similar number 158,732 in 2009, and did even better in the first 10 months of 2010 carrying 182,712 passengers. However, in disgust at what Ryanair viewed as intolerable delays and broken promises in lengthening the runway to enable their Boeing 737-800 to operate out of City with full passenger loads, they withdrew their service on 30th October 2010. Flybe saw this as a great opportunity to cash-in on the market created by Ryanair, so the following day, 31st October, they commenced George Best to John Lennon flights. However at the time Flybe were also building-up their Manchester hub, and Liverpool-Belfast did not fit their network, so after a year, on 7th November 2011 withdrew to concentrate on Manchester services to reduce costs. In the first 2 months they carried 12,553 passengers, with a further 73,000 or so in the first 10 months of 2011.
It came as somewhat ‘out of the blue’, when during Autumn 2014, Flybe announced its intention to once again link Liverpool John Lennon and Belfast George Best. The initial announcement of twice daily weekday flights and once each on Saturday and Sunday was raised to three week-daily before the service commenced on Monday 2nd February 2015 at 17 rotations per week and soon after increased to 23 per week from 29th March. Hopefully Flybe are really committed this time to make the service a long-term feature of their Irish Sea route network. In 2016 Flybe carried around 97,000 passengers and in 2017 95,499. However the frequency of service was massively cut back in 2018, so only 28,815 passengers were carried that year. With poor financial results published in October 2018 and a subsequent review of routes and yields, the route was yet again been axed by Flybe. This third attempt at making Belfast City to Liverpool work for the airline had lasted the longest, but the final regular service is to be flown in December 2018, with a few well forward-booked flights operating until May 2019, carrying just 263 passengers.
Meanwhile EasyJet continue to operate Liverpool to Belfast International with a mix of Airbus A.319s and A.320s. In 2016 passenger loads had increased again, with EasyJet at 453,000 and Flybe 97,000. Nearly all EasyJet flights are operated by Liverpool based aircraft. In 2017 EasyJet carried slightly less passengers at 422,815.
During 2018 the figure increased again with 496,483 passengers carried, however nearly half a million passengers was still short of the 2003 peak but a great improvement over the low in 2010. On a Saturday morning flight, operated by a Belfast based aircraft the airline brought the first of their new Airbus A.320NEO aircraft into Liverpool late summer 2018. The results for 2019 were only slightly down, at 484,891. With the Covid-19 pandemic hitting transport hard with the first of several 'lock-downs', the total for 2020 fell back to 192,164. With Belfast an important internal UK flight and a life-line service for Northern Ireland residents, there was a substantial increase in 2021 to 263,541 passengers. A fair recovery to over quarter of million passengers.
A new chapter opens in summer '22, with EasyJet introducing a once daily service between Liverpool John Lennon and Belfast City alongside its well established Belfast International service. In the past competition enabling both Belfast Airports to be served from Liverpool has added considerably to the total annual passengers figures between the cities. It is to be hoped that pattern will repeat, even with the same airline serving both destinations.
Original text May 2015. Revised April 2022.
