Belfast City Airport is the most convenient airport to use if you are visiting the capital of Northern Ireland. There is a brand new Aspire lounge that has opened, which is going to be great for anyone using the facility.

British Airways closed their lounge during the pandemic and Aspire expanded into that space. Those wanting to see what the former BA lounge was like can check out my review from 2017 here.

New Aspire Lounge at BHD

DV8 Designs is responsible for the new concept, with inspiration taken from Northern Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway. It’s all very neutral and warm toned, which looks great though I do worry how it will go once passengers try to trash it!

With the expansion, an additional 70 people can be accommodated, bringing capacity up to 178. Passengers with lounge access with British Airways, Aer Lingus and others will all use this facility.


The lounge opens daily at 5:30am and most days closes at 7:45pm (except Saturday when it closes at 5pm and Sunday when it closes at 8pm). You can pre-book access for £36.99 on the airport website.

Happily one of the best features of the old BA lounge has been kept. You can continue to board British Airways flights directly from the lounge like before, which is wonderful.

Overall Thoughts

It’s great to see the new Aspire lounge open at Belfast City Airport. When I flew through there in 2017, I had no idea about the direct boarding from the lounge, so that was a pleasant surprise. That it is being kept is wonderful.

Apparently the footprint of the lounge is back to what it was when BMI operated the lounge. It’s a bit of a case of back to the future as a result.

Have you flown in an out of Belfast City before? What do you think of the new lounge? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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