Belfast International Airport to Gatwick is now the busiest domestic air route in the UK, overtaking Edinburgh to London Heathrow. This is according to new official figures released by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The route is operated by both EasyJet and Ryanair.
More than 77,000 passengers used the Belfast-Gatwick services in January, beating Edinburgh-Heathrow by 1,600.
Belfast has also overtaken Gatwick, becoming the fourth largest airport for domestic operations in the UK.
Graham Keddie, Belfast International Airport's managing director said: "These figures give us cause for celebration.
"These are impressive numbers and we see our performance strengthening as the year progresses.
"We remain firmly on course for a record year with more than 5.4 million passengers, and that's down to our airlines and our commitment to do everything we can to expand.
"We've had the breakthrough we all wanted with confirmation that Norwegian will operate two new transatlantic services to New York and Boston. They will help boost long-haul passenger traffic and be pivotal when it comes to attracting greater numbers of American tourists to Northern Ireland.
"We're the only Northern Ireland airport experiencing growth, and we see that pace being maintained and accelerated."
Gatwick has also recorded impressive figures in passenger traffic, handling three million passengers this February, a 9.9 per cent rise from 2016.
The airport also saw a 20.3% increase in long-haul routes and a six per cent rise in cargo.
Gatwick Airport, chief executive, Stewart Wingate said: “Gatwick’s February passenger figures demonstrate the confidence we are witnessing from our passengers, with travel still high priority following the Brexit referendum, with passenger numbers up ten per cent on February 2016.
“Our booming long-haul growth reflects our passengers’ response to our established and growing line-up of long-haul destinations.
“In the next three weeks alone British Airways start their new route to Oakland, San Francisco and Virgin Atlantic to Varadero, Cuba. Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific’s existing route to Hong Kong will be going daily this summer.”