Aer Lingus announces a big expansion at Belfast City Airport
Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.
Both British Airways CityFlyer and Aer Lingus have stepped up at Belfast City Airport after the collapse of Aer Lingus Regional franchise holder Stobart Air in June.
As we covered in early September, CityFlyer has already announced increased frequencies to
- Exeter (four flights per week)
- Glasgow (13 flights per week)
- Leeds Bradford (10 flights per week)
- Birmingham (16 flights per week, a new route)

Aer Lingus has now announced increased services on the routes it picked up from Stobart. From 31st October:
- Manchester will go from daily to twice daily
- Heathrow will go from 19 to 21 flights per week, returning it to pre-covid levels of service
- Edinburgh will go from daily flights to 11 per week
Flights will earn Avios, but not British Airways Executive Club tier points, when bought for cash and will also be redeemable for Avios.
The increase in Manchester services will support the new long haul routes to Barbados, New York JFK and Orlando which launch across November and December.
You can confirm timings and pricing on aerlingus.com here.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (June 2023)
As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!
In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.
You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review
There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus
25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express
5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review
You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 13th June, the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card is doubled to 60,000 Membership Rewards points – and you get £200 to spend at Amex Travel too! Apply here.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express
60,000 points AND a £200 Amex Travel voucher until 13th June! Read our full review
Run your own business?
We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa
Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review
You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.
EDIT: Applications for this card are temporarily suspended due to IT issues with the British Airways On Business SME loyalty scheme.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review
There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum
40,000 points bonus and a £200 Amex Travel credit every year Read our full review

American Express Business Gold
20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review
Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.
Comments (10)