Whitbread to Open New Premier Inn at Belfast International Airport

Whitbread PLC, the UK-based hospitality company and owner of Premier Inn, has revealed plans to open an 81-room Premier Inn hotel at Belfast International Airport. This is part of an expansion plan that has seen the company commit to three leasehold developments at UK airports since September 2024.

The agreement for the new hotel was signed with JHT Hotels Limited, a subsidiary of Northern Ireland developer J H Turkington and Sons, in late December. Construction is expected to begin in 2025, with the hotel opening in 2026.

Whitbread currently operates seven Premier Inn hotels in Northern Ireland and more than 85,500 rooms from 855 locations in the UK and Ireland. The company aims to expand to 125,000 rooms in the UK and Ireland.

The new Belfast Airport hotel is expected to serve the airport’s six million annual passengers (based on 2023 data), offering quality, affordable accommodation. The hotel will feature an on-site restaurant and bar, 125 parking spaces, seven spaces for mobility-impaired guests, landscaped grounds, and improved site access.

The Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council granted planning permission for the development in November 2024. When it opens in 2026, the new hotel is expected to create around 30 new permanent jobs.

Regarding the new hotel, Jill Anderson, Acquisition Manager for Whitbread, stated that the company is committed to growing its network in key travel hubs across the UK and Ireland. The Belfast hotel is the third airport hotel signed in six months, reflecting the growing demand for travel and the investment opportunities these locations offer.

The new hotel will be located near the junctions of Airport Road, Antrim Road, and British Roads, opposite the airport’s long-stay car park and within walking distance of the airport terminal building.

It will be the first Premier Inn to be built in Northern Ireland since the opening of the Premier Inn Lisburn Hotel in 2019. Whitbread is set to invest over £6 million in the new hotel.

Whitbread is also actively seeking new locations for Premier Inn in Belfast City Centre, Enniskillen, and Newry. This is in addition to its existing hotels in Belfast, Bangor, Carrickfergus, Lisburn, and Derry/Londonderry.