Belfast City Airport reopens after emergency

Belfast City Airport has reopened to flights on Monday, a day after its runway closed when a plane was damaged in a “hard landing“, but some delays are expected.

The Aer Lingus aircraft had to be recovered from the runway after the emergency incident which began at about 16:00 GMT on Sunday.

The plane, operated by Emerald Airlines for Aer Lingus, had travelled from Edinburgh to Belfast with four crew and no passengers on board.

A number of flights have been cancelled on Monday morning, with routes affected including those to Birmingham, Leeds Bradford and London City airports.

Pictures from the scene suggest the plane’s nose wheel collapsed during landing but no injuries were reported among the onboard crew.

The incident is being investigated by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) which sent a team of inspectors to the scene.

An airport spokesperson said: “Passengers impacted by yesterday’s runway closure, or those due to travel today should check the status of their flight with the airline before making their way to the airport.”

BBC News NI’s Claire Graham at Belfast City Airport

Necks are craning up to the departures boards as passengers scan the lists to see what delays they face.

The airport is filled with passengers wheeling cases behind them, they have winter woolies on and some with carrier bags of presents are ready to greet those on the other end of their journeys.

I have spoken to one couple who were here when that plane’s front wheel collapsed as it landed on Sunday.

The pair were on board their flight waiting to take off when it happened, passengers anxiously peering through the windows at emergency services heading to the aircraft.

They sighed with relief when they were transferred to a new flight this morning, eager to spend Christmas with family in England.

It has been a long night for workers at the airport, and in the early hours of the morning the damaged plane was moved off the runway. But it’s still here and has not yet been transferred off site. Some passengers may even see it this morning as they travel.

As the first flights arrived, there were cuddles and reunions. Arms opened wide, and tight hugs for families and friends. Their journey followed a sleepless night wondering would their flight be taking off at all.

Several other flights to and from the airport were either cancelled or diverted to Belfast International Airport or Dublin Airport on Sunday evening.

Ferries between Northern Ireland and Scotland were cancelled on Sunday, between Larne and Cairnyran and Belfast and Cairnyran.

Stenaline reported one cancellation on Monday morning and a delay on its Cairnryan to Belfast service.

Travel journalist Simon Calder said on Monday morning that although the runway at Belfast City Airport may be open again “flights are far from normal”.

“The Emerald Airlines fleet which mostly takes people to and from Belfast City Airport that has been reduced by one, so that is going to have an impact while the aircraft involved is assessed and repaired,” he told BBC News NI.

Mr Calder said the closure of Holyhead port, as well as other ferry cancellations and the situation at Belfast City Airport mean it is a testing time for those travelling home for Christmas.

“The closure of Holyhead to Dublin which is by far the most important link between GB and the island of Ireland, that has had really serious effects,” he said.

“You needed everything to be working really well out of Larne, out of Belfast, to and from Cairnryan in south-west Scotland and we saw almost all the ferries yesterday on those routes cancelled.

“As a result we are 40 hours away from Christmas Day and I fear, I hope I am wrong, that there will be people stuck on the wrong side of the sea, simply because there is not the transport available.”

Among the passengers affected by diversions was Hilary Bratton, who had expected her flight from Leeds Bradford Airport to take under an hour on Sunday afternoon.

“During the flight the captain came on to say there was a problem at Belfast City,” she told the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster programme.

“So we then circled Belfast City until they said that we could divert to the International Airport.”

Ms Bratton explained that the announcement came about 10 minutes before her plane was due to touch down, when the cabin crew were already seated for landing.

“It was very tense. We were just circling Belfast City for a long time and to be honest, it was just very quiet… everybody was just a bit nervous of what was going to happen,” she said.

“All-in-all we were on the flight for an hour and 55 minutes.”

Her plane landed safely at Belfast International Airport, but that site already had a heavier than usual schedule so the diverted passengers faced more delays.

“They weren’t expecting us, so we then had to wait another 25 minutes before they would get the bus to get us off the plane into the terminal, and then it took another 25 minutes to get the luggage.”

Many people then had to start making arrangements to get back to their cars at Belfast City Airport.

Ms Bratton said her fellow passengers only realised what had happened to the Aer Lingus plane after they landed.

“When a couple of people brought it up on the phone, everybody was a bit shocked that there’d been quite a serious incident at the city airport.”

Wendy McGonagle from Londonderry was due to fly to Aberdeen on Sunday, but her flight to Scotland was cancelled.

She was going to see her grandson, who was born four weeks premature.

“I had surgery five weeks ago so I had to wait to Friday for whether I could fly,” she told BBC Radio Ulster’s The Nolan Show.

“My grandson is still in the special unit, he is not going to be home for Christmas, but as long as he keeps progressing, we hope it all will go well.”

Ms McGonagle described scenes at the airport as “chaotic”.

She has now got booked on a flight for Monday from City of Derry Airport to Glasgow, but requires transfers to Aberdeen.

“I had to phone Logan Air this morning at quarter to eight and they said they will get something sorted for me whenever the special assistance collects me at the other side in Glasgow,” she added.

Staff from Dublin Airport’s airfield operations team were deployed to Belfast on Sunday evening to help move the damaged plane.

They also brought aircraft recovery equipment, with a spokesman for Dublin Airport Authority telling BBC News NI: “We are happy to help our neighbouring airport.”

The plane, which had four crew and no passengers on board, was a positioning flight.

This is when nearly-empty planes are flown to the airport of its next flight without any passengers on board.