Newcastle Airport
200px
IATA: NCL – ICAO: EGNT
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Newcastle Airport Local Authority Holding Company Ltd, Copenhagen Airports A/S
Operator		Newcastle International Airport Ltd
Serves		Newcastle upon Tyne Tyne and Wear Cumbria Northumberland
Location		Woolsington, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear
Elevation AMSL		266 ft / 81 m
Coordinates		55°02′15″N 001°41′30″W / 55.0375°N 1.69167°W / 55.0375; -1.69167Coordinates: 55°02′15″N 001°41′30″W / 55.0375°N 1.69167°W / 55.0375; -1.69167
Website		www.newcastleairport.com
Map
EGNT Location in Tyne and Wear
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
07/25	2,329	7,641	Asphalt
Statistics (2011)
Passengers			4,346,270
Passenger change 10-11			0.2%
Aircraft Movements			64,521
Movements change 10-11			3.2%
Sources: UK AIP at NATS[1] Statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority[2]

Newcastle International Airport (IATA: NCL, ICAO: EGNT) is located in Woolsington, a village within the boundary of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, 5 NM (9.3 km; 5.8 mi)^[1] north-west of the city centre. In 2011 it was the 11th busiest airport in the United Kingdom.^[2]

The airport is owned by seven local authorities (51%) and Copenhagen Airport (49%). The seven local authorities are: City of Sunderland, Durham County Council, Gateshead MBC, North Tyneside MBC, Northumberland County Council, City of Newcastle and South Tyneside MBC, with the highest percentage of local authority ownership being in the hands of City of Sunderland and the lowest being City of Newcastle.

Newcastle Airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P725) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.

History[link]

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 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, 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 and later in 2002 Sunderland city centres using the Tyne and Wear Metro system. A new £27 million extension was opened in 2000 by then-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. 2001 saw the acquisition of a 49% stake in the Airport by Copenhagen Airports.

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.^[3]

Newcastle was the first regional airport in the UK to install common-use self-service kiosks in the terminal, allowing passengers to check-in themselves without the need to queue at a conventional desk^{[citation needed]}. In 2006 a record 5.4 million passengers used the Airport, according to Civil Aviation Authority figures. Passenger figures were expected to approach seven million by 2009^{[citation needed]}, although due to the financial crisis of 2007–2010 and subsequent recession, the actual figure fell short of that number by around 2.5 million.

Rapid expansion in passenger traffic has led to increasing commercial utilisation 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. The Newcastle Aviation Academy is also located within this area.

Plans[link]

The Airport recently published a Master Plan that sets 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:

• extending the runway at its eastmost end;
• converting the junction with the A696 into a grade-separated junction to cater for the expected increase in traffic levels; and
• the building of a heavy rail link to connect the airport with the National Rail network.

In October 2007 a new Air Traffic Control Tower was completed at a cost of £8.2 million, situated on the north side of the airfield.^[4] The now christened ' Emirates Tower ' was designed by REID architects, and bears resemblance to the control tower they designed for Edinburgh Airport. In the process the Newcastle VHF omnidirectional range beacon was permanently withdrawn from service, since the new tower would have interfered with its operation.

Plans were recently announced for a new office development south of the main airport runway. The 3 story scheme should create around 170 new jobs. The airport hopes to expand annual passenger capacity to 10 million (double current capacity) by 2016 and to 15 million by 2030^{[citation needed]}.

It is expected that £70 million will be invested in the airport during the current Master Plan period, which runs from 2006 to 2016. The airport also recently finished extending its remote parking for aircraft, resulting in an extra 5 parking stands that can accommodate 5 medium-sized aircraft (Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 size), or 4 large aircraft (Boeing 767 or Airbus A330 size) plus 2 smaller aircraft (such as the BAe Jetstream 41).

Area served[link]

The airport mainly serves Northumberland, Tyneside 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 third largest airport in the North of England, after Manchester Airport and Liverpool Airport.

Airlines and destinations[link]

British Airways Airbus A321 bound for London Heathrow

Air France operated by Brit Air at NCL

RAF Tornado at Newcastle Airport

Cargo[link]

Other facilities[link]

When Gill Airways existed, its head office was in the New Aviation House, on the airport property.^[5]

Surface access[link]

Light rail[link]

Airport Metro Station

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 Newcastle upon Tyne (22 mins) and Sunderland (55 mins) city centres.

Road transport[link]

The Airport is connected to the A1 trunk road by the A696 dual carriageway. A regular bus service (3) also runs from the airport to Newcastle (Kingston Park) and South East Northumberland. A half-hourly service (X77 / X78 / X79) links the Airport to the nearby villages of Ponteland and Darras Hall, as well as Newcastle City Centre. Services X77/X78/X79 are Monday to Saturday daytime services only, with the last journeys being made at around 18:00 hours. Service 74A operates a limited service to the City Centre at other times.

Ancillary services[link]

The main handling agents at the Airport are Swissport UK (previously Groundstar) who provide services for eighteen of the above 26 airlines and Servisair, their cargo division has a significant operation at Newcastle. Servisair have recently brought a new operation to Newcastle (14 February 2011); SmartHandling by Servisair, which is limited to providing services to Easyjet.

There is one hotel on the Airport site and two immediately adjacent. The hotel on the airport grounds was completed in 2011 and is operated by the Doubletree by Hilton brand, with 179 bedrooms and a 4 star rating.^[6]

Next to the airport are the Britannia Airport Hotel and a Premier Inn, with another Premier Inn located at Callerton, near the general aviation terminal.

Traffic statistics[link]

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 4.35 million passengers passing through the airport in 2011 (below the 2004 total), although cargo volumes have broadly increased to record levels in 2010 / 11.^[2]

id:gray    value:gray(0.5)  
 id:line1                 value:gray(0.9)
 id:line2                 value:gray(0.7)

color:blue width:20
bar:1997 from:start till:2.642591
bar:1998 from:start till:2.984724
bar:1999 from:start till:2.994051
bar:2000 from:start till:3.208734
bar:2001 from:start till:3.431393
bar:2002 from:start till:3.426952
bar:2003 from:start till:3.920204
bar:2004 from:start till:4.724263
bar:2005 from:start till:5.200806
bar:2006 from:start till:5.431976
bar:2007 from:start till:5.650716
bar:2008 from:start till:5.039993
bar:2009 from:start till:4.587883
bar:2010 from:start till:4.356130
color:darkblue
bar:2011 from:start till:4.346270

Busiest domestic routes to and from Newcastle Airport (2011)^[2]

Rank	Airport	Passengers handled	% Change 2010 / 11
1	London Heathrow	473,614	11
2	Belfast International	180,490	5
3	Bristol	168,049	1
4	London Gatwick	95,122	2
5	Southampton	91,471	11
6	Belfast City	41,331	8
7	London Stansted	28,014	77
8	Aberdeen	24,801	6
9	Exeter	24,147	11
10	Cardiff	15,069	29
11	Jersey	14,179	12