Over the festive season, hundreds-of-thousands of travellers heading to and from Northern Ireland will have to double-check their tickets, as Belfast International Airport is today being re-named as ‘Westeros Airport’.
With 5.8 million people travelling through the airport each year, travellers during the month of December will now be greeted with a large scale ‘Welcome to Westeros’ sign on arrival. The momentous airport takeover will celebrate Northern Ireland’s involvement as a major filming location for the show and marks the Home Entertainment release of GAME OF THRONES® SEASON 7 on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK and Ireland.
HBO Home Entertainment has collaborated with Belfast International Airport and Northern Ireland Screen to take over the airport and celebrate the region’s eight year, long-standing connection to the show. Production of HBO’s phenomenon GAME OF THRONES® has been based in Belfast since the very first season, with the show filming in various locations across Northern Ireland including the Causeway Coast and Glens, north of the capital city, as well as south into Quoile and the Mourne Mountains in County Down.
The story of GAME OF THRONES® takes place on the continent of Westeros, in a large political entity known as the Seven Kingdoms. The airport being taken over and re-named as Westeros cements Belfast as the gateway for fans to all things GAME OF THRONES®.
Moyra Lock, Head of Marketing at Northern Ireland Screen, comments, "HBO UK’s official re-naming of the Belfast’s International Airport is a fantastic opportunity to cement Northern Ireland as the home of GAME OF THRONES®. The show has spearheaded a growing screen tourism phenomenon and we’re delighted to welcome all fans and travellers officially to Westeros this December. The series has catapulted Northern Ireland into the premier league of global production locations and a huge legacy for the screen industry will be the local and highly skilled crew-base with vast experience on a show of size and scale that has the highest production values on television today.”
Graham Keddie, managing director of Belfast International Airport, said, “We are delighted to partner with HBO UK and NI Screen to showcase Northern Ireland as the home of GAME OF THRONES®. As the principal airport for Northern Ireland, we look forward to welcoming the hundreds-of-thousands of passengers, as well as meeters and greeters that will be travelling through the terminal over the festive period and will be able to visit Westeros, right here, at Belfast International Airport.
NOTES TO EDITORS
The GAME OF THRONES® Northern Ireland filming locations app, produced in partnership with HBO, is free to download for both and Android. Bridging the gap between fantasy and reality, users can flip between the mythical worlds of Westeros and Essos and the real Northern Ireland filming locations. The app gives you information on which scenes filmed where and helps you navigate those locations accessible to the public.
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For more information on Game of Thrones Season 7 or HBO Home Entertainment, please contact:
Calum McGarry / calum.mcgarry@premiercomms.com / 020 7292 7353
Jack Everley / jack.everley@premiercomms.com / 020 7292 7353
For further information on Northern Ireland Screen, please contact:
Moyra Lock / Moyra@northernirelandscreen.co.uk / 028 90 268590