Anti-war campaigners have criticised the recent presence of U.S. Military Aircraft at Belfast International Airport.
Campaigners tracked six U.S. Air Force jets to the Aldergrove airport on Thursday (May 20).
The Andersonstown News first reported that the U.S. Military was using the airport in 2016.
Online flight data shows that the C-130 transport aircraft arrived at Belfast International Airport on Thursday from the U.S' Ramstein Air Base in the Rhineland-Palatinate state, Germany.
The planes later departed for Bangor International Airport in Maine, USA.
The U.S. Air Forces in Europe said: "The USAF C-130 aircraft at Belfast International Airport were carrying airmen on the way back to home station following a deployment in the U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility."
Dublin-based anti-war activist, Dan Dowling, who has campaigned against the use of Shannon Airport by the US Air Force, said Ireland is being used a staging-post for war in Middle East.
He said that one of the planes that arrived in Belfast "would have come from Afghanistan".
With US military planes "increasingly coming through Belfast", Mr Dowling called on the public to oppose the militarisation of the airport.
"We know where these planes are going, they're going to the Middle East, and we've seen the footage of Iraq and Kuwait," he said.
"It's our imperative as human beings to stop other human beings being maimed in war."
Mr Dowling also raised concerns about staff safety at civilian airports, which are being used to transport military equipment.
"Staff at the airport shouldn't be exposed to hazardous materials," he said.
"For their benefit they know that there isn't explosive materials on board.
"As with Shannon, those other bases that the planes go to – Crete and Ramstein – they're military bases with blast walls. They can take a plane blowing up, but not a civilian airport."
The Andersonstown News has contacted Belfast International Airport and is awaiting a response.
