Travellers heading to and from Northern Ireland will receive a Game of Thrones-style welcome during the festive period, as Belfast International Airport has been re-named Westeros Airport.

The change has been made to celebrate the official launch of Game of Thrones Season 7 on Blu-ray and DVD.

Travellers during the month of December will now be greeted with a large scale ‘Welcome to Westeros’ sign on arrival.

The airport takeover will celebrate Northern Ireland’s involvement as a major filming location for the HBO show.

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, said: "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, added: “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."

Belfast Telegraph