Newcastle Airport

Newcastle Airport
IATA: NCL – ICAO: EGNT
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Newcastle Airport Local Authority Holding Company Ltd (51%), AMP Capital (49%).
Operator		Newcastle International Airport Ltd
Serves		Newcastle upon Tyne Tyne and Wear County Durham Cumbria North Yorkshire Northumberland
Location		Woolsington, Newcastle upon Tyne
Elevation AMSL		266 ft / 81 m
Coordinates		55°02′15″N 001°41′30″W / 55.03750°N 1.69167°W / 55.03750; -1.69167Coordinates: 55°02′15″N 001°41′30″W / 55.03750°N 1.69167°W / 55.03750; -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 (2012)
Passengers			4,366,196
Passenger change 11-12			0.5%
Aircraft Movements			61,006
Movements change 11-12			5.4%
Sources: UK AIP at NATS[1] Statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority[2]

Newcastle International Airport (IATA: NCL, ICAO: EGNT) is located near the Woolsington area of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, 5 NM (9.3 km; 5.8 mi)^[1] north-west of the city centre. In 2012 it was the 11th busiest airport in the United Kingdom.^[2]

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.

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

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 city centre 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.

Airport logo used until 2000

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]

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 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

In 2013, the Airport published a Master Plan that sets out development proposals for the airport until 2030.^{[citation needed]} In the near term, these include changes to the road network and the expansion of the freight facilities on the south side of the airport.

The developments planned include:

• Measures to improve the capacity of the runway, such as taxiways and turning points, but no requirement for a runway extension or a second runway
• Extensions to the terminal and a possible second pier and/or satellite pier development
• Further apron development to the north east of the terminal to accommodate additional aircraft parking
• Construction of offices, hangars and warehouses on the southside
• Additional long stay car parks along with a possible multi-storey short stay car park to the front of the terminal
• Road junction and infrastructure improvements

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 third largest airport in the North of England, after Manchester Airport and Liverpool Airport.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Other facilities

When Gill Airways existed, its head office was in the New Aviation House, on the airport property.^[9]

Also, the Newcastle Airport Freight Village which is located beside the Airport, bases Emirates SkyCargo, FedEx, Servisair Cargo and NorthEast 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. The Airport is also home to the Newcastle Airport Fire Academy.^[10][11]

Surface access

Light rail

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 all the main City Centre Metro Stations (approx 22 mins).

Road transport

The Airport is connected to the A1 trunk road by the A696 dual carriageway. A half-hourly bus service (X77 / X78 / X79) links the Airport to the nearby villages of Ponteland and Darras Hall, as well as to the 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 on Sunday daytimes.

Ancillary services

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 are two hotels on the Airport site and two near by. The Britannia Airport Hotel is situated at the end of the short stay car park outside the front of the terminal, The second 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.^[12]

Adjacent to the Hilton Doubletree is the Premier Inn, with another Premier Inn located at Callerton, near the general aviation terminal.

Traffic 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 4.4 million passengers passing through the airport in 2012 (below the 2004 total), although cargo volumes have broadly increased to record levels since 2005.^[2]

Newcastle Airport Passenger Totals 1997-2012 (millions)

Updated: 19 March 2013.[2]

British Airways Airbus A321 bound for London Heathrow

Air France operated by Brit Air at NCL

RAF Tornado at Newcastle Airport

Busiest domestic routes to and from Newcastle Airport (2012)^[2]

Rank	Airport	Passengers handled	% Change 2011 / 12
1	London Heathrow	487,404	3
2	Belfast International	191,844	7
3	Bristol	170,375	2
4	Southampton	87,044	5
5	London Gatwick	84,053	11
6	Belfast City	39,185	5
7	Aberdeen	36,300	7
8	Exeter	29,494	21
9	Cardiff	13,214	12
10	Jersey	12,255	14

Busiest international routes to and from Newcastle Airport (2012)^[2]

Rank	Airport	Passengers handled	% Change 2011 / 12
1	Amsterdam	285,286	10
2	Alicante	233,346	10
3	Palma de Mallorca	232,518	4
4	Paris Charles de Gaulle	182,491	4
5	Dubai	162,349	0
6	Málaga	158,932	6
7	Tenerife South	157,628	4
8	Dublin	153,664	9
9	Faro	119,945	5
10	Dalaman	112,552	7
11	Lanzarote	75,706	9
12	Barcelona	70,429	0
13	Ibiza	67,669	6
14	Paphos	64,272	0
15	Sharm el-Sheikh	63,735	7
16	Las Palmas	51,779	2
17	Murcia	50,488	21
18	Brussels	47,301	2
19	Enfidha	43,433	628
20	Düsseldorf	43,173	1

Accidents and incidents

• 30 November 2000 - A Piper Aerostar registered N64719 en route to Iceland crashed close to Fearnoch, on the north side of Loch Tay in Perthshire, killing the single crewmember. The aircraft had departed from Newcastle Airport. The accident report concluded that the aircraft gradually lost airspeed during an icing encounter, before stalling and the pilot losing control.^[14]
• 11 February 2004 - A Robinson R22 Beta lost height while in a hover taxi and impacted the ground causing major damage to the aircraft and minor injuries to the pilot and passenger.^[15]
• 5 August 2008 - A Royal Air Force Tornado GR4A overran the runway making an emergency landing after suffering a bird strike. The crew were uninjured although the aircraft suffered damage.^[16]
• 25 May 2009 - A Rockwell Commander 112 registered G-FLPI veered off the runway while landing. The nosewheel collapsed, the propeller and fuselage suffered damage, but the pilot was uninjured.^[17]

Notes

External links

Media related to Newcastle Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website

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