The airport has a single runway operation. Situated adjacent to the Port of Belfast it is 3.2 km from Belfast city centre. It shares the site with the Short Brothers/Bombardier aircraft manufacturing facility. The airport began commercial operations in 1983. The airport was formerly known as Belfast City Airport until it was renamed in 2006 in memory of George Best, the famous footballer from Belfast.

The airport handled over 2.5 million passengers for the first time in 2008, a 17.5% increase since 2007 and a 35.6% increase over the six years since 2002. The airport is a major base for Flybe, which began operations at the airport in 1993 and is now the largest operator at Belfast City.