Belfast International Airport arrivals today

Today’s Belfast International Airport arrivals are all on the live board below: scheduled time, estimated time, airline, origin and current status for every flight landing at Belfast International today, updated continuously until the aircraft is on the ground. Belfast International, still known locally as Aldergrove, is Northern Ireland’s largest airport, with 6.8 million passengers in 2024, its busiest year yet, and the home of easyJet’s Northern Ireland base, and everything landing here today, from the first Jet2 return of the afternoon to the last easyJet shuttle from Gatwick at night, is on this one page.

International or City: make sure you are at the right airport

Belfast has two airports, and every week someone waits at the wrong one. Belfast International sits at Aldergrove, about 30 km north-west of the city near Lough Neagh, and is the home of easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair and TUI: the low-cost and holiday flights. George Best Belfast City Airport lies 5 minutes from the city centre on the lough shore and handles Aer Lingus Regional, British Airways, KLM and Loganair; easyJet flies from both airports. If the flight you are meeting is with Jet2, Ryanair or TUI, it lands here; if it is with Aer Lingus, BA, KLM or Loganair, it lands at City, and for easyJet the airport on the booking decides. For a City arrival, and our Belfast City arrivals board is the one to watch. The board on this page shows only Belfast International.

The airport has a single terminal, so every passenger comes through the same arrivals hall. From touchdown to that hall usually takes 15 to 30 minutes, and flights from Great Britain are the quickest of all: they are domestic, so there is no passport control, and hand-luggage passengers off a Gatwick or Manchester flight can be out in 15 minutes. A full aircraft from Spain or Portugal with hold bags at a busy moment takes closer to half an hour.

Picking someone up: the £5 zone, the free Long Stay and the 300 bus

What stopping at the terminal costs is the question we hear most. The Drop Off zone on the forecourt is barrier-controlled and costs £5 for up to 10 minutes since 9 March 2026, rising in steps after that to a maximum of 1 hour; it is not a place to wait for an arrival. The cheaper option is the Long Stay car park, a few minutes’ walk from the terminal, which gives 15 minutes free for pick-ups and drop-offs; stay longer and the normal car park rate applies. The sensible routine is therefore to watch this board on your phone before you set off, and to drive in only once the flight shows Landed and the 15 to 30 minutes above have run. Charges change, so believe the signs on the day.

By public transport, the Airport Express 300 bus runs between the terminal and Belfast city centre, calling at Europa Buscentre and Belfast Grand Central Station, every 12 to 15 minutes by day, from the early hours until late in the evening. There is no railway station at the airport. For anyone meeting a passenger without a car, the 300 is the simplest answer in both directions.

Reading the board, and following the aircraft in

The column to trust is the estimated time, not the scheduled one. Scheduled is what the timetable promised this morning; the estimate follows the actual aircraft and is recalculated all the way in, so an easyJet flight that left Bristol 20 minutes late can still land close to its slot with the westerly wind behind it. The status column shows Departed once the aircraft has left its origin, Expected while it is airborne, Landed once it is on the runway, and Diverted when it has gone elsewhere: at Belfast International that usually means Dublin or Belfast City when fog settles over Lough Neagh.

If a status word is not enough, take the flight number from the board and put it into the live flight radar on our homepage to find the aircraft in the air. Better still, open the Belfast International flight radar page, where you can watch inbound traffic cross the Irish Sea and line up over the lough for the runway at Aldergrove. Most of what lands here is easyJet, and our easyJet flight tracker explains why the radar calls those flights EZY while your ticket says U2.

Frequently asked questions

Is there free pick-up at Belfast International?

Only briefly: the Long Stay car park, a few minutes’ walk from the terminal, gives 15 minutes free for pick-ups and drop-offs, after which the normal rate applies. The forecourt Drop Off zone costs £5 for up to 10 minutes.

How long after landing before passengers come through?

Usually 15 to 30 minutes. Domestic flights from Great Britain have no passport control and are quickest; a full holiday flight with hold luggage at a busy moment takes longest.

Does my flight land at Belfast International or Belfast City?

Jet2, Ryanair and TUI land at Belfast International. Aer Lingus Regional, British Airways, KLM and Loganair land at Belfast City. easyJet flies from both, so for an easyJet flight the airport named on the booking decides.

Where are Belfast International departures?

On the Belfast International departures page, with advice on how early to arrive and how to get to Aldergrove.