On this page (6 sections)
Who flies the route
Two airlines fly Stansted to Belfast direct: Ryanair and easyJet. Both are short-haul, hand-luggage-first carriers, and between them they keep the route running through the day. Ryanair is Stansted's largest airline and usually sets the lowest fare; easyJet runs a competitive schedule of its own. The difference between the two tends to be price, bag rules and timing rather than the flight, and both land at the same Belfast airport.
No full-service carrier flies Stansted to Belfast. British Airways and Aer Lingus serve Belfast from Heathrow and London City, not Stansted, so a free hold bag and an allocated seat in the fare mean looking at those airports instead. From Stansted, the choice is Ryanair against easyJet, and the airlines at Stansted page sets out what each one includes.
Which Belfast airport you land at
Belfast has two airports, and this is the one thing most worth getting right. Stansted flights, on both Ryanair and easyJet, land at Belfast International (airport code BFS), the larger airport about 18 miles north-west of the city. The other airport, George Best Belfast City (BHD), sits only around three miles from the centre, but it is not served from Stansted. It is flown from Heathrow and London City by other airlines.
The practical difference is the trip into town. From Belfast International you have a bus or taxi ride of around 40 minutes; from Belfast City you would be in the centre in minutes. Neither is better or worse, but they are on opposite sides of Belfast, so book any hotel transfer, hire car or pickup to Belfast International when you fly from Stansted, and double-check the airport code on your booking rather than assuming "Belfast" means the nearer one.
How often it flies
Belfast runs at roughly 5 flights a day between the two airlines, somewhere around 38 a week, with the first leaving near 06:10 and the last in the evening around 22:10. It is a steady, year-round route rather than a seasonal one, because it carries people visiting family and travelling for work as much as holidaymakers, so the schedule holds up through the winter as well as the summer.
The exact count moves with the season and with how Ryanair and easyJet split the flying, so treat it as a guide rather than a timetable. To see what is operating on your date, check the live departures board or the airline directly, and confirm the departure times when you book.
How long the flight takes
The flight takes about 1 hour 20 minutes on the published schedule, gate to gate. The airport's own Belfast page quotes a flight time of 1 hour, which is nearer the time actually in the air across the Irish Sea; the booked block usually allows more for taxiing, departure queues and holding. The straight-line distance is around 325 miles.
That short hop is only part of the day. Set against it are the trip out to Stansted, the airport's recommended two-hour security buffer, and the bus or taxi from Belfast International into the city at the far end. The air time is the smallest part of the door-to-door total, so budget for the legs at either end when you plan your arrival.
Fares and how to book
One-way fares start at roughly £15 to £18 when you book ahead, with Ryanair usually the cheapest and easyJet a little higher. On quiet dates a return can come in around £35 to £45. These are lead-in fares and they move constantly, climbing as the flight fills and as you get closer to departure, and they are lowest on off-peak weekdays booked well in advance.
Both carriers are low-cost, so the headline fare rarely includes a cabin bag larger than the free personal item, a checked bag or a chosen seat. Each is extra and can double a cheap fare, so compare the all-in cost between Ryanair and easyJet rather than the screen price, and book directly with the airline. The fares quoted here are indicative, so check the live price on the airline's own site before you commit.
At Stansted, and getting into Belfast
Belfast is a domestic UK flight, because Northern Ireland is part of the UK, so there is no passport control in either direction, but you still need valid photo identification to board, and Ryanair and easyJet each set their own accepted documents. Be at security at least two hours before departure, the airport's own recommendation, and more in the early-morning rush. Your gate and satellite show on the departures board and vary by flight: most gates are reached by the airside transit, while Satellite 3 is a walk of around 15 minutes.
At the Belfast end, the Airport Express 300 bus runs from Belfast International to Grand Central Station in the city centre in about 40 minutes, every 15 minutes at peak, with a single around £8.50; a taxi is quicker but dearer. There is no fast surface alternative to the flight, since reaching Belfast by land means a train to the coast and then a ferry, which takes most of a day, so flying is the sensible choice on this route. For the trip to Stansted itself, the flight information hub links the live boards, check-in and the pre-flight detail, and the wider Stansted route map shows where else the airport flies.