Newcastle: Airport Questions and Reviews

[Rickoza]

First post - hope it's in the right place! Can anyone advise me which type of aircraft Thomas Cook will use on the flights to Enfidha (Tunisia) on Wednesday nights during the Summer? Flying there at the end of June. Thanks.

 

[jason1-11]

After booking a day return for a business meeting up in the NorthEast, I said I would compare my airport experience between Newcastle Airport with Leeds.

Flight Out

British Airways Airbus A320. Usually fast and efficient service that I have become accustomed to with British Airways and T5. Probably 90% full with a flight time of 55 minutes. 7 aircraft in front of us for takeoff, but still arrived early. Cloud all the way so no pictures of LBA unfortunately.

Arrivals – Domestic

2 large carrousels with a low roof similar to Leeds. Speedy and efficient, but there weren’t many domestic arrivals at the time.

Terminal

Bright and breezy with lots of space. The check in section appears to be split into 2 (assume a past redevelopment ) with the newer section looking impressive. At the time of my visit, it was filled with lots eager passengers heading to Dubai and onwards. Appeared to be many foreign travelers milling around so would assume a large number of inbound tourists, business people etc are using the Airport to access the region. I liked the fact that International Arrivals is situated next to Departures so all the facilities are co-used for “meeters and greaters.”

Range of Destinations

Fanatic range for a regional airport including New York and Dubai as the highlights. Multi daily departures to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Heathrow, an impressive list of IT destinations including Thomson 787 operations plus a long standing Easyjet base. The only thing missing is a based Ryanair operation, but with their recent expansion at NCL, can only imagine it’s on the cards and possibly an enhanced Flybe regional offering.

Departures

Situated on the 2nd floor there were 7 security scanners which lead in to a huge snaking duty-free shop. Once in the Departure area all the usual bars and shops are all spread out over one floor with all the restaurants and bars affording fantastic views over the whole airfield. A real sense of space, proportion and natural light, but unsure what it would be like during the 6am rush.

The BA lounge looked impressive and is a huge plus for the business community.

Flight back

Airbus A321.

Delayed 2 hours due the late arrival of the crew from a previous flight and thunderstorms in the London area. Surprisingly the flight was ~75% full which may have been influenced by the previous departure being cancelled. 50 minutes back and straight into Heathrow at 2345.

Overall

A very nice well functioning regional airport with all facilities in proportion to the size of the building and its catchment area. The Metro Link into Central Newcastle is a huge plus. Runways similar length to Leeds, but not with all the associated issues which is evident when a 777-300 lands.

Due to its limited catchment area, may struggle to grow much more than currently being achieved, but Leeds could certainly learn a lot from the setup, infrastructure and terminal layout. I’m sure Mr. Parkin is fully aware of course due to his previous employment.

Conclusion 8/10 and sadly puts Leeds to shame in all respects.

 

[Aviador]

Great review Jason, thanks very much!

It's many years since I last visited Newcastle airport but even back then I was very impressed with the whole set up. If I remember correctly they were just building the additional check-in facility you mentioned so your probably talking 20 years ago now. The whole airport puts LBA to shame and it makes you realise how desperately in need of investment LBA is.

 

[rmac]

If its a few years since you visited Newcastle it seems odd that you make the comment that Newcastle puts LBA to shame. I have flown from and returned to Newcastle several times and have never been overly impressed by the place. It of course doesn't have Manchester on its doorstep so investing in the airport is perhaps a little more certain.

 

[Aviador]

Unlike LBA - NCL has been built and extended with further expansion in mind. LBA on the other hand is a piecemeal wish-wash of ad-ons so it is obviously not going to fare too well when comparing the two.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I've used NCL a number of times although not in the past 3-4 years and always found it a decent airport to fly through, although some of the walks to gates could be long and not to everyone's taste.

 

[Old_Musky]

Hi guys I'm planning a trip to Newcastle Airport within the next month was just after some information on which days are the busiest for air traffic or which days have the bigger aircraft landing and departing.

 

[Jerry]

Hi guys I'm planning a trip to Newcastle Airport within the next month was just after some information on which days are the busiest for air traffic or which days have the bigger aircraft landing and departing.

I'd imagine Monday and Tuesday would be the busiest days and as well as a daily 777 from Emirates i believe they get a TUI 787 on Mondays and Tuesdays.

 

[drtaher]

Please, can someone tell me if there is a VAT refund desk at the airport - and whether this is before, or after, the security check area? Thanks in advance. If you do know, please provide some directions on where it might be.

 

[Aviador]

At the smaller airports in the UK there is usually a VAT post box situated after security. If you ask at the airport information desk they will be able to confirm this.

 

[Aviador]

I've just checked and the VAT refund box is located in the departure lounge, just before the stairs to the gates. If UK Border Force are manning the desk you can hand it in there.