Terminal
Northern Ireland’s busiest airport fits into one terminal at Aldergrove, owned by VINCI Airports since August 2018. Four carriers — easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair and TUI — cover the whole schedule, and the gate numbers run from 10 to 29 along piers the airport measures gate by gate: the farthest boarding door is 660 metres from the Drop Off Zone, on foot.
The house advice is to be inside two hours before departure; transatlantic desks open three hours out. Desks close somewhere between 40 minutes and an hour before the scheduled time depending on the carrier, and latecomers are refused. From the Drop Off Zone to Check In is a 115-metre walk.
The scanners here are the new generation: liquid containers up to 2 litres and every laptop, tablet and phone stay packed in your bag, with plastic bags retired altogether — though frozen liquids stay banned from the cabin. Doors open to passengers as early as six hours before a flight, and £5 buys a Premium Security pass for a dedicated lane, bookable online until five minutes before you reach it.
No train has ever served Aldergrove. Translink’s 300 bus bridges the 18 miles to Belfast Grand Central Station — the province’s rail hub — while passengers on the Derry~Londonderry line change at Antrim, where the Ulsterbus 109A meets the trains and a £2.20 Airlink add-on covers the bus leg.
OCS handles assisted travel: request it at least 48 hours ahead through your airline, travel agent or the PRM Assist app, and collect a sunflower lanyard at the OCS desk in Check-In if a hidden disability applies. A Changing Places toilet sits to the right of Gate 18, the Eagle 4A hoist is available on 48-hour pre-booking, and Blue Badge holders get a dedicated zone inside the Long Stay car park.