| Newcastle Airport |
Article Index for Newcastle Airport |
Articles about Newcastle Airport |
Website Links For Newcastle |
Information AboutNewcastle Airport |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT NEWCASTLE AIRPORT | |
| airports in england | |
| newcastle upon tyne | |
| transport in tyne and wear | |
Newcastle Airport is the ninth largest Airport in the United Kingdom . It is located about 6 Mile s (11 Km ) from Newcastle city centre. Newcastle Airport is owned by seven local authorities (51%) and , 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. HISTORY The Airport was first opened on the 26th of 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 Two 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 facilities. 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. AIRLINES AND DESTINATIONS Scheduled services
Charter flights Destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North America are served from Newcastle Airport by charter airlines. Operators include Excel Airways , Futura , MyTravel Airways , Thomsonfly and Thomas Cook Airlines . SURFACE ACCESS Light rail See Also: Newcastle Airport metro station The Airport is connected the Tyne And Wear Metro service linking it directly with both Newcastle (22 mins) and Sunderland (45 mins) city centres. Road transport The Airport is connected to the shopping 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 facilities on the south side of the airport. Feasibility Studies are being carried out to evaluate the longer-term proposals that include:
In November 2005 the Airport announced plans to build a new Air Traffic Control Tower on the north side of the site, replacing the existing structure which was completed in 1966. The work commenced in March 2006 and the building is expected to be in use by December 2007 at a cost of £8.2 million. EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|