Newcastle Airport

Ownership

The airport is owned by seven local authorities (51%) and AMP Capital (49%). The seven local authorities are: City of Newcastle, City of Sunderland, Durham County Council, Gateshead MBC, North Tyneside MBC, Northumberland County Council and South Tyneside MBC. On 27 October 2012 Copenhagen Airport sold the stake in the airport to AMP Capital, which is an Australian-based Investment Management Company.

Area served

The airport mainly serves the City of Newcastle, the greater Tyneside area, Northumberland and Wearside. The airport competes with the smaller Durham Tees Valley Airport for passengers travelling from and to County Durham and Teesside. Passengers from Cumbria, North Yorkshire and southern Scotland also use the airport, the nearest similar sized airport being Leeds Bradford Airport to the south and the larger Edinburgh and Glasgow International airports to the north. In terms of passenger numbers, Newcastle is the second largest airport in the North of England, after Manchester Airport.

Early years

The Airport was opened on 26 July 1935 as Woolsington Aerodrome by the Secretary of State for Air, Sir Phillip Cunliffe-Lister. Incorporating a clubhouse, hangar, workshops, fuel garage and grass runway, at the time it cost £35,000 to build.

Although during World War II the main airport in the region was located at Cramlington in Northumberland, following the war a decision was taken to concentrate development on the present airport site. Accordingly, in the early 1950s, ex-RAF fighter pilot Jim Denyer was appointed as Airport Manager and within a few years over 5,000 people were using the Airport each year to travel to destinations such as Jersey and the Isle of Wight.

The 1960s saw tremendous growth in passenger numbers at the airport. This was mainly due to British people taking foreign holidays to places such as Spain instead of holidaying within the UK. A new runway was built, along with an apron and a new air traffic control tower. These new additions were opened by the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson.

In the 1970s, with passenger figures approaching one million per year, the Airport status was changed to Category B, making it a regional international airport, in the same decade it was re-branded as Newcastle Airport. The 80's saw further investment in check-in, catering and duty-free shops. In 1991, Airport Metro station opened, connecting the airport with Newcastle city centre using the Tyne and Wear Metro system. A new £27 million extension was opened in 2000 by the Prime Minister Tony Blair and the first low-cost airline arrived at the airport, with Go inaugurating a service to London Stansted following the collapse of locally based Gill Airways.

Development since the 2000s

In 2001 the SAS Group announced that an agreement had been concluded to increase its holding in Spanair from 49% to 74% of the shares.

In August 2004 an extended and refurbished Departure Terminal was opened. The refurbishment comprised a 3,000 square metre extension which included new shops, cafes and 1,200 new waiting seats.

In 2006 a record 5.4 million passengers used the Airport, according to Civil Aviation Authority figures.

Rapid expansion in passenger traffic has led to increasing commercial utilization of the south-side of the airport, which was previously used for general aviation, and is now used for freight, mail and corporate flights. This is partially due to difficulties obtaining departure and arrival slots for light aircraft traffic, which need to be separated from larger aircraft to protect against wake turbulence. As part of the Airport Master Plan, the south-side area is to be expanded with maintenance facilities including new hangar and apron areas.

In August 2016, United Airlines announced it would discontinue its seasonal route from Newark to Newcastle in 2017, citing economic reasons. Therefore, Newcastle Airport lost one of its two long-haul services.

Cargo and Freight facilities

Newcastle Airport Freight Village is located south to the Airport and bases Emirates SkyCargo, FedEx, Servisair Cargo and North East Air Cargo company offices to deal with freight such as mail and cargo to export and import goods to and from Newcastle and across the world. It also houses Freight Forwarding Agents such as; Camair, DHL, Kintetsu World Express, Kuehne & Nagel, Nippon Express, Schenker International, Davis Turner Air Cargo and Universal Forwarding.

In April 2016 Emirates reported that Flown exports have soared to £310m a year since the arrival of the Emirates service from Newcastle to Dubai. The Dubai route contributes some £600m to the economy and has opened unlimited export avenues to North East firms, some of whom have opened offices in the UAE.

All cargo operations are based on the southern apron, including the Jet2 737 (quick change) aircraft which operates every night. It has its seats removed so it can carry mail to East Midlands (on behalf of Royal Mail) and they are then replaced, ready for the morning flight. It also houses West Atlantic and more.

Other airport facilities

The Airport is also home to the Newcastle Airport Fire Academy. The Newcastle Aviation Academy is also located within this area.

When Gill Airways existed, its head office was in the New Aviation House, on the airport property.

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter services to and from Newcastle:

Accidents and incidents

Statistics

The airport saw significant growth in the ten years to 2007, when passenger numbers peaked at 5.65 million, more than double the number handled ten years earlier. Passenger numbers declined in the subsequent four years due to the financial crisis of 2007–2010, with around 4.8 million passengers passing through the airport in 2016 (close to the 2004 total), although cargo volumes have broadly increased to record levels since 2005.

Metro

Airport station on the Tyne and Wear Metro is directly connected to the terminal through an indoor walkway. The station is the northern terminus of the green line with frequent direct services to all the main Newcastle and Sunderland City Centre Metro Stations (approx 20 and 50 minutes respectively).

Road transport

The Airport is connected to the A1 trunk road by the A696 dual carriageway. A half-hourly bus service links the Airport to the nearby villages of Ponteland and Darras Hall, as well as to the City Centre.