Aer Lingus announces a big expansion at Belfast City Airport

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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 announces a big expansion at Belfast City

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 points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee 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

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company 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: