Newcastle Airport

Newcastle International Airport
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, Tyne and Wear
Hub for		Eastern Airways EasyJet Jet2.com Thomas Cook Airlines Thomson Airways
Elevation AMSL		266 ft / 81 m
Coordinates		55°02′15″N 001°41′30″W / 55.0375°N 1.69167°W / 55.0375; -1.69167 (Newcastle Airport)Coordinates: 55°02′15″N 001°41′30″W / 55.0375°N 1.69167°W / 55.0375; -1.69167 (Newcastle Airport)
Website		www.newcastleairport.com
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
07/25	2,329	7,641	Asphalt
Statistics (2008)
Movements			72,904
Passenger			5,039,993
Sources: UK AIP at NATS[1] Statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority[2]

Newcastle Airport (IATA: NCL, ICAO: EGNT) is located at Woolsington in the City of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, 5 NM (9.3 km; 5.8 mi)^[1] north-west of the city centre. In 2008 it was the 13th busiest airport in the United Kingdom.^[2]

Though in Newcastle, the airport itself is actually 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.

Newcastle Airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P725) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction. It was also voted the north's favourite airport in a survey by Wanderlust.^[3]

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.

Airport logo used until 2000.

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 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.

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 are expected to approach seven million by 2009^{[citation needed]}.

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.

Recent events

• The local corporations who own and operate Newcastle Airport are currently in an ongoing legal case (of which the outcomes are confidential), trying to regain a £6 million bonus paid to former Chief Executive, John Parkin, after he was paid the bonus and subsequently left to take a job on the board of directors at Leeds Bradford International Airport.^[4]

Future plans

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 (currently under construction) 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.^[5] 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 £70million 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 plus 2 smaller aircraft (such as the BAe Jetstream 41).

Area served

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 second largest airport in the North of England, Manchester Airport being the largest.

Surface access

Light rail

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

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 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

The main handling agents at the Airport are Swissport UK (previously Groundstar) and Servisair.

There are two hotels on the Airport site, the Britannia Airport Hotel and a Premier Inn, with another Premier Inn located at Callerton, near the general aviation terminal. The construction of a new 187-bedroom, 4-star hotel began in June 2007 and is due to open winter 2009 ^[6]

Traffic statistics

The airport has seen significant growth over the last ten years, handling 5.62 million passengers in 2007, more than double the number handled ten years earlier. Passenger growth stalled in 2008, due to the financial crisis of 2007–2009, although cargo and mail traffic grew.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines and destinations are available from Newcastle Airport as of April 2009.^[9]

Scheduled flights

Charter flights

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Cargo and mail flights

Accidents and incidents

• 30 November 2000 - a Piper Aerostar en route to Iceland crashed close to Fearnoch, on the north side of Loch Tay, in Perthshire. The aircraft had departed from Newcastle.
• 3 February 2001 - a Piper Seneca piloted by Police Chief John, Lord Stevens made an emergency landing at Newcastle on only two of its three wheels, after a bolt jammed the landing gear.
• 5 August 2008 - an RAF Tornado, already performing an emergency landing after a bird strike, overshot the runway.
• 26 May 2009 - a Rockwell 114 Commander performing an emergency landing came off the runway causing several inbound aircraft to be diverted to Durham Tees Valley Airport.

Notes

External links

• Official Newcastle Airport site
• Copenhagen Airports (13 August 2004). "Newcastle International Airport extension opened". Press release. http://www.cph.dk/CPH/UK/Newsroom/News/2004/Newcastle+extension.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-12. 

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