NEWCASTLE - 8
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Durham
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Apart from having a better range of European routes (partly because of many more incoming visitors) I don't think you'll find EDI a better airport than NCL. Re parking for example, you only get 10 mins for £1 for dropping off near the terminal and its £5 if you go over 10 mins. If you want to avoid the charge you have to go the long term car park and get a bus. A lot of the terminal building is older and more crowded than NCL. NCL is far from perfect, but it's one of the better airports in the UK in my opinion and performs reasonably well given the limits of its catchment area.
From the Journal:
Yesterday EasyJet was Newcastle's biggest airline - lies, damn lies and statistics!
BUDGET airline Jet2 is creating nearly 120 jobs at Newcastle International Airport next year after seeing a dramatic increase in business. The carrier needs the new ground staff, pilots and cabin crew as it moves to fly to five new destinations from Newcastle next summer.
It is also bringing its fifth Boeing 727 to the airport as it starts the services to Alicante, the Algarve, Toulouse, Krakow and Prague. Jet2 will be the airport’s biggest airline when it completes its growth plans which will increase its seat capacity by 50%.
The service, owned by Dart Group, last year had a record year at Newcastle with more than 300,000 passengers using it at Newcastle. It launched six new leisure routes to holiday destinations including Cyprus, Egypt, Turkey and Gran Canaria and currently has 40 flights a week departing from the airport to 20 destinations.
In addition to its new routes, further services are being added to existing summer 2011 schedules to holiday favourites, including Ibiza, Mahon, Malaga, Tunisia, Murcia and Palma. The expansion comes as rival easyJet is axing services to Murcia and Rome and reducing the frequency of other services as part of a nationwide shake-up of its business.
Philip Meeson, boss of Jet2.com and Dart Group, said: “Easyjet is cutting back its presence at Newcastle Airport significantly in 2011. Jet2.com on the other hand is growing its presence dramatically for next year. We see Newcastle Airport as a really key location for us, hence we are introducing another aircraft, to operate additional destinations and increased flight frequency. Customer feedback shows there are additional routes and services the people of the North East want, and we have factored those into our plans.”
Dart Group will release its financial results today.
It is also bringing its fifth Boeing 727 to the airport as it starts the services to Alicante, the Algarve, Toulouse, Krakow and Prague. Jet2 will be the airport’s biggest airline when it completes its growth plans which will increase its seat capacity by 50%.
The service, owned by Dart Group, last year had a record year at Newcastle with more than 300,000 passengers using it at Newcastle. It launched six new leisure routes to holiday destinations including Cyprus, Egypt, Turkey and Gran Canaria and currently has 40 flights a week departing from the airport to 20 destinations.
In addition to its new routes, further services are being added to existing summer 2011 schedules to holiday favourites, including Ibiza, Mahon, Malaga, Tunisia, Murcia and Palma. The expansion comes as rival easyJet is axing services to Murcia and Rome and reducing the frequency of other services as part of a nationwide shake-up of its business.
Philip Meeson, boss of Jet2.com and Dart Group, said: “Easyjet is cutting back its presence at Newcastle Airport significantly in 2011. Jet2.com on the other hand is growing its presence dramatically for next year. We see Newcastle Airport as a really key location for us, hence we are introducing another aircraft, to operate additional destinations and increased flight frequency. Customer feedback shows there are additional routes and services the people of the North East want, and we have factored those into our plans.”
Dart Group will release its financial results today.
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Scotland
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Skyman wrote that the numbers of passengers using Newcastle but coming from North of the border is decreasing and this is true. The arrival of the Low Cost airlines has made the difference because years ago there were few Charter/holiday flights from Edinburgh and so passengers frequently used Newcastle and Glasgow. It was common to hear people say "oh we are flying from Newcastle (or Glasgow, even Manchester) but not very much now. Now we hear "flying from Edinburgh" .....
The airport is very modern, not crowded and easy to use.
The airport is very modern, not crowded and easy to use.
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Netherlands
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Re comments about EDI.
Lets not forget that NCL is also easy to get to from the main train station (Frequent Metro direct into the terminal).
It is also modern and in my opinion easy to use. It is also not crowded these days.
Has it not won some awards recently for service?
Does it not come fairly high up the list in terms of punctuality?
Parking isnt to bad when comparing with some other airports.
Regarding routes, dont forget NCL still has a very good choice of routes both charter and scheduled.
I do agree with the earlier posters re people not coming down from Scotland in such high numbers as before due to availability from EDI. But does NCL not have an advantage with cheaper flights in some cases ie lower supplements with some tour opperators etc.
NCL is by no means perfect and no doubt many a fault can be found. However No airport is perfect, some are better or worse than others.
I have been around for quite a while now and In my opinion there are a lot of airports both in the UK and Worldwide many times worse than NCL.
Incidentaly I dont work for the airport.
It is also modern and in my opinion easy to use. It is also not crowded these days.
Has it not won some awards recently for service?
Does it not come fairly high up the list in terms of punctuality?
Parking isnt to bad when comparing with some other airports.
Regarding routes, dont forget NCL still has a very good choice of routes both charter and scheduled.
I do agree with the earlier posters re people not coming down from Scotland in such high numbers as before due to availability from EDI. But does NCL not have an advantage with cheaper flights in some cases ie lower supplements with some tour opperators etc.
NCL is by no means perfect and no doubt many a fault can be found. However No airport is perfect, some are better or worse than others.
I have been around for quite a while now and In my opinion there are a lot of airports both in the UK and Worldwide many times worse than NCL.
Incidentaly I dont work for the airport.
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: NE ENGLAND
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Re comments about EDI.
fl dutchmen & others
Guys I was not seeking to make any comment constructive or otherwise ref. EDI in fact I haven't flown from there since the "Turnhouse" days, ... fond memories of the old buildings....
Good news about Jet2 in particular the adding of new destinations, though the benefits of evermore competition on the "bucket & spades" is questionable and one wonders if the reality is simply a power struggle at best, or simply getting one's foot firmly in the door to ensure that no one else can get in if a certain airline were to pull out
Guys I was not seeking to make any comment constructive or otherwise ref. EDI in fact I haven't flown from there since the "Turnhouse" days, ... fond memories of the old buildings....
Good news about Jet2 in particular the adding of new destinations, though the benefits of evermore competition on the "bucket & spades" is questionable and one wonders if the reality is simply a power struggle at best, or simply getting one's foot firmly in the door to ensure that no one else can get in if a certain airline were to pull out
Join Date: Jul 2005
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Skyman771.
I have no problem with your comments re EDI/catchment you are quite correct. Was just trying to ballance the view of NCL vs EDI as an airport
Re Easyjet I note that the number of flights this winter is probably not much different to last when there were 5 aircraft not 3 as at present. So the better efficiencies reffered to by the Chief Excec are probably valid, as last winter the aircraft utilization was poor.
However that does not apply to next summer where there must be about 40% cut in capacity. So does that suggest they didnt make any money last summer hence the cut back in the coming summer. If they did make money last summer surely they could have kept capacity about the same by basing 5 aircraft just for the summer or by flying W patterns from other bases to supplement the 3 based aircraft..
I think Skyman771 is correct re jet2 getting its foot firmly in the door incase someone pulls out. Unfortunatley that is quite possible the way things are going although I hope not. If they were committed to NCL, going from 7 to 3 based aircraft over the last few years and almost no new routes is a funny way to demonstrate that. Of course the Scottish factor may be big factor in the decision, but it does not seem to affect Jet2 decision to expand or TCX bringing in aircraft 4.
We will probably get a better indication about Easyjets future plans when they release winter 2011/12. Lets keep our fingers crossed.
Still looks like STN ends in March, anyone heard anything?.
I do think someone will announce Rome for next Summer shortly !!.
I have no problem with your comments re EDI/catchment you are quite correct. Was just trying to ballance the view of NCL vs EDI as an airport
Re Easyjet I note that the number of flights this winter is probably not much different to last when there were 5 aircraft not 3 as at present. So the better efficiencies reffered to by the Chief Excec are probably valid, as last winter the aircraft utilization was poor.
However that does not apply to next summer where there must be about 40% cut in capacity. So does that suggest they didnt make any money last summer hence the cut back in the coming summer. If they did make money last summer surely they could have kept capacity about the same by basing 5 aircraft just for the summer or by flying W patterns from other bases to supplement the 3 based aircraft..
I think Skyman771 is correct re jet2 getting its foot firmly in the door incase someone pulls out. Unfortunatley that is quite possible the way things are going although I hope not. If they were committed to NCL, going from 7 to 3 based aircraft over the last few years and almost no new routes is a funny way to demonstrate that. Of course the Scottish factor may be big factor in the decision, but it does not seem to affect Jet2 decision to expand or TCX bringing in aircraft 4.
We will probably get a better indication about Easyjets future plans when they release winter 2011/12. Lets keep our fingers crossed.
Still looks like STN ends in March, anyone heard anything?.
I do think someone will announce Rome for next Summer shortly !!.
Join Date: May 2006
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Its not too hard to see why TCX can add another aircraft if you look at other factors, apparently there is a resurgance in package bookings especially all inclusive deals so people know exactly what they will spend in their holiday in these 'tough economic times'.
In a similar manner it's quite possible others are struggling more as the prices EZY charge from NCL are never that cheap compared to other bases, without wishing to open the EDI debate further compare the prices. Having said that LS are not cheap either, just compare prices to LBA.
If your are prepared to travel a bit further you can get much cheaper fares with the same airlines that fly from NCL, personally I hate traveling to other airports when I can fly from the local but if you are counting every penny is does matter.
In a similar manner it's quite possible others are struggling more as the prices EZY charge from NCL are never that cheap compared to other bases, without wishing to open the EDI debate further compare the prices. Having said that LS are not cheap either, just compare prices to LBA.
If your are prepared to travel a bit further you can get much cheaper fares with the same airlines that fly from NCL, personally I hate traveling to other airports when I can fly from the local but if you are counting every penny is does matter.
Join Date: Jul 2005
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Resurgance in package hols.
Perhaps thats one of the main reasons that Jet2 are doing so well with a lot of people using Jet2 holidays, with the financial protection and the all inclusive options.
I am sure that I read somewhere that Easyjet were going to do something similar with package holidays next year.
Perhaps thats one of the main reasons that Jet2 are doing so well with a lot of people using Jet2 holidays, with the financial protection and the all inclusive options.
I am sure that I read somewhere that Easyjet were going to do something similar with package holidays next year.
Join Date: May 2009
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EZY already offer a holiday package service, it was launched last year when they changed from Easyjet Hotels to Easyjet Holidays easyJetHolidays - holiday packages and city breaks at easyJet prices
Newcastle does struggle sometimes but it is in a relatively poor economic area (if you take the swathes of its catchment area into account) and has a low migrant population comparable to other major towns and cities (aside the medium sized Indian and Pakistani communities in West End Newcastle and the Jewish community in Gateshead) it's not got the masses of migrants that require Pakistan Airways or someone else to turn up on a daily service, or even a weekly service
Economically the area is moving to the service industry so the demand for business travel isn't as great but you've got more Executives from London and Europe and the States visiting the call centres, the distribution centres and the technology industry that is developing in the region.
it's a spade and bucket airport with added extras and it does that job well. I have no issues with connections from NCL. CDG. AMS, LHR are all good places to connect (not forgetting Dubai)
Not many cities of Newcastle's size (small in global and even national terms) have an airport with such links that Newcastle does, my local airports are Barcelona (an occasional nightmare) and Reus (a hut that simply wouldn't exist without charters)
I think people expect too much, possibly buoyed on by Emirates success and American sniffing around a few years ago.
Any build up will always be slow but the airport will turn a profit on bucket and spade routes as they are the passengers most likely to spend in the bars and restaurants and shops as they enter 'holiday mode'. Having used Emirates (from Dubai twice inbound but never outbound from NCL) the vast amount of passengers still seemed to be 'holidaymakers' and good for them!
Don't kick the place while its down, have a little patience. After all, it could be DTV
Newcastle does struggle sometimes but it is in a relatively poor economic area (if you take the swathes of its catchment area into account) and has a low migrant population comparable to other major towns and cities (aside the medium sized Indian and Pakistani communities in West End Newcastle and the Jewish community in Gateshead) it's not got the masses of migrants that require Pakistan Airways or someone else to turn up on a daily service, or even a weekly service
Economically the area is moving to the service industry so the demand for business travel isn't as great but you've got more Executives from London and Europe and the States visiting the call centres, the distribution centres and the technology industry that is developing in the region.
it's a spade and bucket airport with added extras and it does that job well. I have no issues with connections from NCL. CDG. AMS, LHR are all good places to connect (not forgetting Dubai)
Not many cities of Newcastle's size (small in global and even national terms) have an airport with such links that Newcastle does, my local airports are Barcelona (an occasional nightmare) and Reus (a hut that simply wouldn't exist without charters)
I think people expect too much, possibly buoyed on by Emirates success and American sniffing around a few years ago.
Any build up will always be slow but the airport will turn a profit on bucket and spade routes as they are the passengers most likely to spend in the bars and restaurants and shops as they enter 'holiday mode'. Having used Emirates (from Dubai twice inbound but never outbound from NCL) the vast amount of passengers still seemed to be 'holidaymakers' and good for them!
Don't kick the place while its down, have a little patience. After all, it could be DTV
Join Date: Mar 2005
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easyJet Holidays are to expand big style from March, they have just signed a deal with a large bedbank namely Lowcost Group who operate Lowcostbeds and Lowcostholidays dot com. There was another group called On Holiday Group who were in with a chance but easyJet chose Lowcost.
The trade press say it will take the third place in the package holiday list that was vacated by XL.... see TTG or Travel Weekly's websites for further details.
The trade press say it will take the third place in the package holiday list that was vacated by XL.... see TTG or Travel Weekly's websites for further details.