Newcastle - Dublin
Agreed - Newcastle have good link with Ryanair on 2x Daily service. However I wonder if point being made by Southend comparison is an Aer Lingus service, ticketing through to New York with pre-clearance of US Border controls in Dublin (or Shannon) would be a great advantage & may even be preferred to waiting "for ever & a day" for a direct Newcastle/NYC route with long queues at New York immigaration and customs clearance. Aer Lingus with pre-clearance means arriving in US in the same way as a domestic passenger.