Jobs hopes over airport project

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6590137.stm

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Work has started on a multi-million pound business park next to Belfast International Airport.

It took six years for the airport to get planning permission for the development, which could create up to 8,000 jobs in the next 15 years.

Work is already under way on the first business units. In total, almost 100 acres will be transformed.

There will also be offices, warehouses, new freight handling facilities and the possibility of a second hotel.

The airport's managing director, John Doran, said the park, which will be called Gateway, was ambitious, but it could succeed.

"The significance of Gateway cannot be understated," he said.

"It is both an investment in the future of the economy of Northern Ireland and the wider economy of the northern part of the island as a whole.

"The location offers businesses access to a growing number of direct air routes to Europe and North America, but because the airport, being one of Northern Ireland's most significant economic assets, is the natural and sensible choice for expanding, forward-thinking businesses."

The airport is keen to see a rail link to the terminal and is in talks with transport company Translink and the government to see if this proposal can proceed.

Belfast International Airport serves 42 scheduled destinations with 15 domestic services and 27 European and transatlantic services.

Previous owners of the airport also proposed developing a business park but they never obtained planning permission.