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Newcastle Airport is the ninth largest airport in the United Kingdom. It is located about 6 miles (11 km) from Newcastle city centre. Newcastle Airport is owned by seven local authorities (51%) and Copenhagen Airport (49%). The seven local authorities are: Durham County Council, Gateshead MBC, City of Newcastle, North Tyneside MBC, Northumberland County Council, South Tyneside MBC and City of Sunderland. The airport has seen tremendous growth in recent years. The CAA recently named Newcastle as the fastest growing regional airport in the UK. The Airport handled 5.19 million passengers in 2005. It was also voted the North's favourite airport in a survey by Wanderlust. Newcastle International Airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P725) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.
History The Airport was opened on 26 July 1935 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 then-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. The 1980s saw further investment in check-in, catering and duty-free shops. In 2000 a new £27 million extension was opened by Prime Minister Tony Blair and the first low-cost airline arrived at the airport, with Go Fly inaugurating a service to London Stansted following the withdrawal from the route by the now defunct Gill Airways. 2001 saw the acquisition of a 49% stake in the Airport by Copenhagen Airports. In August 2004 Newcastle saw the opening of the extended and refurbished Departure Terminal. The refurbishment saw a 3,000 square metre extension which included new shops, cafes and 1,200 new waiting seats. Scheduled flights Charter flights Destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North America are served from Newcastle Airport by charter airlines. Operators include BH Air, bmi, BritishJET, Eurocypria Airlines, Excel Airways, First Choice Airways, Futura, LTE International Airways, MyTravel Airways, Monarch Airlines, Flyjet, Thomsonfly, Ajet and Thomas Cook Airlines. Light rail The Airport is connected to the Tyne and Wear Metro service linking it directly with both Newcastle (22 mins) and Sunderland (55 mins) city centres. Road transport The Airport is connected to the A1 trunk road by the A696 dual carriageway. A regular bus service (101) also runs from the airport to Newcastle (Kingston Park) and South East Northumberland. A half-hourly service (X77 / X78 / X79) links the Airport the nearby villages of Ponteland and Darras Hall, as well as Newcastle City Centre. Ancillary services The main handling agents at the Airport are Swissport UK (previously Groundstar) and Servisair/Globeground. There are two hotels on the Airport site, the Britannia Airport Hotel and a Premier Travel Inn, with an additional Premier Travel Inn located at Callerton, near the general aviation terminal. There are also a large number of hotels in Newcastle and the surrounding area. Statistics Number of Movements represents total takeoffs and landings during that year. Number of Passengers, Freight and Mail include both domestic and international counterparts. Future plans The Airport recently published a Master Plan that set out development proposals for the airport until 2016. In the near term, these include building a multi-storey car park to replace the current short-stay parking, a new 187-bedroom on-site hotel and the expansion of the freight facilities on the south side of the airport. Feasibility studies are being carried out to evaluate the longer-term proposals that include: | ||||||||
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