Some Belfast City Airport flights cancelled and delayed after plane’s nose wheel collapsed during hard landing

Four flights have been cancelled at Belfast City Airport this morning, along with a swathe of delays after a plane’s nose wheel collapsed during a hard landing in bad weather.

Almost all flights set to depart before 10am are delayed from Belfast City Airport, with one 6.35am flight to London Heathrow now due to depart four hours later.

The airport closed its runway on Sunday after an Aer Lingus regional flight, operated by Emerald Airlines, was damaged during landing at around 4pm.

There were four crew members but no passengers on board, but the incident triggered emergency procedures.

Some flights were also redirected to Belfast International Airport.

The journey was a “positioning flight” – to relocate an aircraft rather than carry passengers – and had taken off from Edinburgh Airport.

In a statement early on Monday, the airport said: “The plane has been moved – the runway has now reopened and will operate as normal today.

“Passengers impacted by the resulting cancellations and diversions yesterday, or those due to travel today should check the status of their flight with the airline before making their way to the airport.”

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The plane “experienced a hard landing” due to “adverse weather conditions” across the UK on Sunday.

Flights, trains and ferries were affected by stormy weather and gusts of around 70mph.

Around 100 flights from Heathrow Airport were cancelled on Sunday due to “strong winds and airspace restrictions” although the “vast majority” operated as normal, a spokesperson said.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said crews were called after an aircraft’s nose wheel collapsed on landing.

“We had 24 personnel in total in attendance and assisted Belfast City Airport Fire Service to make the scene safe. NIFRS have now left the scene,” a post on X said.

Belfast International Airport said on Sunday that four flights had been redirected there due to the closed runway at the city airport.

“As we already had a heavier schedule than usual, we are now, with these additional flights, close to capacity so we are limited in how many more redirected flights we can take this evening, however we will continue to support where possible,” a spokesperson added.