This language does not suggest BFS. Imagine if Aer Lingus were to announce: "Our new foreign hub outside of Ireland is Belfast". I think straight away they'd upset a lot of their potential passengers.Today 00:27
Airlines like to deal with airports, you know keep them on there toes, during the negotiation stage, therefore to say they are opening a base in Ireland, well I wonder where that would be hmmmm Knock, Londonderry, or maybe BELFAST. Also if Aer Lingus was to open a base in Belfast, the airline would be marketed as serving the whole of Ireland. Aer Lingus and Ireland as a whole has moved on and most people have now accepted that Northern Ireland is in the UK as a matter of fact, they may not be happy with that, but in the business world polictical correctness is foremost. If they were to announce BFS as their new UK base, Unionist would be happy with the wording, nationalists would be happy that their national airline was now available from their local airport. Anyway I think that 99% of people really wouldn't give a toss about the wording.