Scotland APD
First Edinburgh airport is about to get easier to get to for NE travellers, next year the first tram route opens from Princess Street straight to the airport. This effectively means you could get off the train at Edinburgh cross the road and get the tram to the airport.
Finally the airlines would have to pass on the savings with the scrapping of APD. If you read the draft policy document produced by a future Independent Scotland you'll find that the new government will fine airlines that don't! The airlines are also in the business of making money and I have no doubt that easyjet for example will have no calms in removing the last three based aircraft from Newcastle to Edinburgh if they see Edinburgh as a more profitable option. Evidence of this already exists remember the easyjet expansion went into reverse at Newcastle when they opened a competing base at Edinburgh.
I have no doubt that once the word gets out that families could save £400, £500 or £600 by travelling long haul from Edinburgh then they will vote with the wallet and travel up the road. We already have an example of this in Belfast where long haul traffic collapsed as folks travelled from Dublin to save the APD and I can assure you it is a lot easier to get from Newcastle to Edinburgh than from Belfast to Dublin.
Potential Independence for Scotland will have the biggest impact on flights from Newcastle than any other airport in England simply because of its proximity to Scotland and the number of passengers it already has from the boarders area. While the effect on business traffic may not be great, the effect on low cost operations and long haul will be huge.