Whitbread commits to UK airports
Whitbread, which is the UK’s largest hotel company, signed an agreement-for-lease with JHT Hotels Limited to construct the hotel.
This is the third leasehold development Whitbread has committed to at UK airport locations since September 2024, totalling more than 550 Premier Inn bedrooms at Edinburgh, Manchester and Belfast Airports.
The hotel will feature an on-site restaurant and bar, dedicated parking facilities with 125 car spaces and seven mobility-impaired spaces, landscaped grounds, and improved site access.
Local planning authority Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council granted planning permission for the development in mid-November 2024, paving the way for construction of the new hotel to begin in 2025. Around 30 new permanent roles will be created at the hotel when the doors open in mid-2026.
The Belfast Airport development will bring Premier Inn’s signature combination of quality and affordability to Northern Ireland’s busiest airport, and a travel hub serving around six million passengers a year (2023 figures) travelling to 55 domestic and international destinations.
Bedrooms growing
Currently, in its main UK and Ireland market, the business operates more than 85,500 bedrooms from 855 locations and has an ambition to expand its offer to 125,000 UK & Ireland rooms.
Jill Anderson, Acquisition Manager for Whitbread, said that securing the prime location at Belfast International Airport showed the company’s commitment to growing its network in key travel hubs across the UK and Ireland.
“The site offers an exceptional opportunity to serve the airport’s six million passengers annually, providing them with the quality, comfort, and affordability Premier Inn is known for.
The Belfast acquisition is the third airport hotel we have signed in six months, reflecting the consistently strong and growing demand for travel and the excellent investment opportunities these locations offer.”
The new Belfast International Airport hotel will be constructed at the junctions of Airport Road, Antrim Road and British Roads – opposite the airport’s popular long-stay car park and within easy walking distance of the airport terminal building.
It is the first Premier Inn to be built in Northern Ireland since the opening of Premier Inn Lisburn hotel in 2019, with Whitbread set to invest more than £6 million in the new hotel (on a capitalised lease expenditure basis).
