Belfast International Airport has now officially become the fifth busiest airport in the UK for domestic passenger traffic.

Confirmed by the Civil Aviation Authority, the report is based on airport and passenger activity during 2016.

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The four leading airports are Heathrow, Gatwick, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Belfast managing director Graham Keddie said: “Passengers are voting with their wallets. They want value for money and frequent services at the best times of the day. Small to medium businesses are doing more business in GB and we’re able to get them to their target markets at hugely competitive rates with easyJet and Ryanair.

“We could do much more with the right supports. Air passenger duty is a considerable disadvantage not only to our airports, but to Northern Ireland as a region. If it disappeared, we could transform inbound tourism, leading to further significant investment along with the creation of thousands of jobs."

"We are working closely with government to deliver a major long-haul project that would open up attractive additional and badly-needed connections."

Overall, Belfast International grew by more than 17% last year, serving more than 5.1 million passengers.

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In 2017, the airport intends to serve 5.4 million passengers to achieve a new record.

Keddie added: “This year will be a bumper year for us, despite the decision by United to end its popular trans-Atlantic service. We continue to do all with can to fill that gap.

"We are working closely with government to deliver a major long-haul project that would open up attractive additional and badly-needed connections.”