Glenda's flight of fancy as record-breaking passenger

The airport has broken all previous passenger records by exceeding the 5,243,038 passengers achieved in 2007 with more than five weeks left to run before the end of the year.

Glenda was the first customer to pass the previous record mark and discovered that she was the lucky passenger as she checked-in at the airport terminal.

She was about to travel with her daughter, Lauren, to the USA with Norwegian and was somewhat surprised when she discovered that she was passenger 5,243,039.

On realising that she had won tickets, Glenda said: “What a wonderful surprise – I’m thrilled. I live quite near to Belfast International, so I try to fly out a couple of times a year to visit family abroad. The tickets will enable me to squeeze an extra trip in next year!”

Belfast International Airport Managing Director Graham Keddie, who presented Glenda with her tickets, said: “It has been a record-breaking year for Belfast International Airport – and I would like to thank all our passengers, airlines, concessionaires, stakeholders and particularly all our staff for their efforts and support.

“Anyone travelling through the airport will notice how busy it is and we are looking forward to 2018 being even better.”

The traditional Christmas and New Year rush is expected to see the airport end 2017 by achieving a total in excess of 5.7 million passengers.