That Leinster Rugby is to use Belfast International Airport for flights to three away matches (September 24) is scarcely headline news. What it draws attention to, however, is the potential for the airport to make a much greater contribution to efficient patterns of air travel across the island of Ireland – at a time when Dublin Airport is under severe pressure.
Belfast International currently suffers from poor public transport access, so much so that the majority of transatlantic passengers from the north fly out from Dublin.
There is, however, a rail link, not currently in use, from Antrim to Lisburn which passes close by the airport. A modest investment in the upgrading of this line could scarcely but improve access to the airport. A further enhancement could be the construction of a short link from Moira, avoiding the need for northbound trains to be reversed at Lisburn. This second step would open up access to Belfast International from the Portadown/Newry/Dundalk corridor, and possibly from as far south as Drogheda.
Given the current pressures on the passenger cap at Dublin Airport, any steps which would relieve congestion at Dublin would surely be a win-win for air passenger traffic right across Ireland.
Michael Walsh, Clontarf, Dublin 3
