A shame, although I must admit I'm not massively surprised by this. It's a pleasant enough place, but there's nothing breathtaking about it (there are days I think the same about Newcastle, before any Cork folk come on and slag me off! ). It doesn't have a large population and no obvious business links to Tyneside. It does seem though that a lot of routes started from NCL in the last decade or so are having trouble sticking around...