Manchester, Luton and Edinburgh...

Manchester is much bigger City than Newcastle

Luton is anoterh London airport

Edinburgh is a capital city with lots of tourist and financial traffic

NCL does very well IMHO - any other UK airport would kill for that daily flight to Dubai

Unless and until the NE becomes a lot richer you won't see many more flights

Can't see TUI doing Thailand (BKK) from NCL - Emirates fares have been around £460 - £480 via Dubai for the past year and connections are very easy also to HKT and the islands, Hua Hin etc...
I'd suggest Westbound routes which are under served for package breaks, and possibly Goa, India which we have had for a couple of seasons in the past from Caledonian.
Orlando could do with more operators for competition. We used to have at least 2 operators (Thomson and Thomas Cook forbears (Airtours) - Quite a few people I know travel via Manchester for price or packages via Virgin - Maybe Virgin could offer variety as well as competition.

I agree. I used to find it frustrating that Thomson in particular didnt even juggle the schedule a little bit each year. (Pre kids) when looking for a winter break to the canaries at least 6 days offfwork was required because none of the flights were at weekends - even the Sunday TFS arrived back early Monday morning. Historically the older generation going to Benidorm for the winter wouldn’t have cared which day they flew on but there is a big group of workers who want a short winter break but to save as many days holiday for other times of the year.

I also agree that surely there are enough adventurous Geordies who would love to try somewher new such as Cape Verde in the winter. While I duck for cover as the inevitable “economics” are pointed out I do also wonder how much newcastle suffers from “regional prejudice” ie southern based planners thinking we’re just 30 mins from BHX so what does it matter (just like the dualling if the A1 - crying out to be done but not important enough for the people controlling the spending in London!!

Could do with the A319 to A320.upgrade on EZY before a 4th aircraft IMO.

Thomas Cook i think apart from LGW and MAN we get basically the same routes as every other winter base its TUI im most dissapointed in i would of loved to see them do Winter KEF from Newcastle.

In defence of EK77 I would say that Thailand is a place that is very popular with Scandinavians, but for some reason hasn't taken off as a 'mainstream' - if high-end - tourism destination from the UK. Tourist destinations come and go. I am old enough to remember when Rimini used to be popular from NCL, and only the truly adventurous went to Turkey. It won't happen next year but never say never.

Airport have Las Vegas on the map but I'm guessing that would be summer only with TUI

TCX are planning a 2019 summer 1x weekly route to LAS however the flight would need to go via MAN for fuel.

With the Aer Lingus frequency dropping too, there could be a real market for a twice weekly US flight now but that ship has sailed, having seen the figures I'd say at least 75% of all Dublin pax are connecting to the US.

Just out of interest BKK is the highest unserved route from MAN so the pax are there

TUI don't fly to Vegas... It would be, at most, 2/3 charter flights with Thomas Cook or Virgin. Same as Jet2's New York flights

Thailand is becoming more and more popular, and I think people are starting to realise that it is more affordable than they expected. At most, we would be talking a fortnightly flight, say June-September (could work better as a winter seasonal flight though). That's 8-10 flights, 2400-3000 people. Probably about the same as Emirates alone carry from Newcastle - Thailand every month, never mind KLM, Air France and British airways. Not to mention the thousands per month that "leak" to Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham. So yes, Callum Paterson... I do think that Thailand is a realistic option in the coming years from Newcastle. VentureGo, TUI don't fly to Bangkok, so it would be NCL-HKT. Goa is a nice thought, but it was operated in the past on an A320, I don't think it would sustain a 787, even fortnightly. People are still quite reluctant to be as adventurous as India. It's difficult to convince a Geordie to go to Almeria instead of Benidorm!!!

DanAir89, I think you hit the nail on the head. I think some would certainly consider Cape Verde, and a weekly 737 out of Newcastle shouldn't be out of the question. But it's easier and less risk just to send it to Tenerife on another rotation. There is a lot of regional bias at play.

LiamNCL, I'm really surprised KEF didn't happen this winter to be honest. I live in hope! I'd use it if they offered it.

Heathrow Harry, I apologise; Liverpool, Bristol, Leeds, Doncaster, Belfast, Glasgow and Cardiff, then? We've been significantly behind all of them in growth for a number of years - I appreciate that they might not be delivering as much profit as NCL, but there is a bit of a blip in growth in the North East.

Sorry for being optimistic but I remember the "I'll give them 6 months" comments on Emirates

When I come back from BKK I see a fair few people from the long haul on the NCL hop.

It would be great for me personally to see a weekly or even fortnightly year round flight.

Does anyone anywhere do fortnightly flights?

What is the smallest plane that could do the distance in one go?

If the US direct isnt going to happen the airport should be nagging Icelandair or WOW air. Iceland could work really well for one stop and connecting traffic.

KEF, by Icelandair, appears far more realistic an aspiration than direct services to Thailand!

It would surprise me if the airport weren't talking to them as their hub at KEF serves so many destination in North America it would be a real boon for NCL.

Is WOW not a candidate for NCL with there ever expanding US and Canadian connections in KEF ?

If I were NCL I'd be looking to Icelandair with their far more comprehensive network, and more staying power in terms of market development. Also a better known brand in North America, and most probably in UK too.

If they couldn't be brought on board then 2nd choice would be WOW.

I will depend on if Icelandair get the right type of aircraft

The Dash is too small, slow and expensive for NCL-KEF, and the 757 is simply too big.

The 737MAX... Maybe, but still on the large side. I'm sure that if Icelandair had E-jets or Cseries, Newcastle would be one of the go to destinations

Ash666, our only option for a direct Thailand service is TUI on a 787. The 787 is the only one that can do 11 hours non-stop out of Newcastle

TUI do fortnightly flights to Orlando and Cancun from Newcastle, which I hope will increase to 2 weekly if growth continues. They all go out full as it is, and the ability of offering 10/11 night holidays alongside the current 7/14, could only be a good thing

I doubt I would trust WOW to stick out a full season, never mind year round

Thanks EK77.

I'm sure NCL could send 250 pax to Thailand fortnightly.

With the fares available and daily choice to Thailand via DXB with EK why would you want a charter flight!! Plus would damage EK loads!
If you look at the struggle NCL has had to keep other long haul charters I really cannot see it happening!!

Aren't Cancun and Orlando weekly with TUI? I agree TUI is our best bet for any leisure long-haul, does anybody know whether TUI operate Thailand from any regional airports or is it just LGW and MAN? Also not convinced that a 787 could do 11 hours out of NCL.

I think that NCL is too far for the Icelandair dash 8's - ABZ and BHD are a stretch. Curious as to why TOM with the 738 and EZY 319/320's are regarded as suitable for KEF-NCL but the Icelandair MAX is too big? As WOW couldn't make BRS work, I agree that we wouldn't be on their radar.

Also once upon a time, BRS and NCL had very similar operations (though they'd kill for our legacy carriers :E) - the difference now shows clearly the impact of the size and wealth of the respective catchment areas

TUi are doing Birmingham to Phuket this winter.

For W18/19 Birmingham will see alternating Langkawi and Bangkok.

Falcon900x

TCX planning 1x weekly summer 2019 to las vagas is that from Manchester or ncl?