What has happened to the Park & Fly car park at Newcastle? I know it closed during covid and that passenger numbers are still about 10% below the pre-covid era but given the low operating costs and the big prices that the airport owned carparks charge it makes me wonder why it has not reopened. Has the airport acquired the land?

Yes - believe they went bust. The airport must have bought it as this is the plan.

https://www.newcastleairport.com/new...ing-forecourt/

I thought that the airport owned it anyway. It seemed to be using the same booking engine as the main airport car park booking system, but prices much lower. Sometimes if you booked in for short stay (2 - 3 days) they would offer a free "upgrade" to the terminal short-stay car park when you checked in. It was always my preferred option.

"I thought that the airport owned it anyway."

They did - bought it years ago.

EasyJet Summer 24
 

Hi

looks like EasyJet is struggling to compete with the others now.
next summer PMI is (June-august) only

EasyJet Summer 24...PMI

A chance you could be wrong about PMI ending early....The timetable published is only valid .until 1st Sept. so the rest of Sept. would show on the next publication.

Belfast is 15 wkly and Bristol is 12 wkly. (till 1st Sept)

Aer Lingus still not published the timetable for BHD

easyJet Holidays shows PMI available until October 26th

A little disappointing on the easyJet front, but not too surprised or disheartened really. Shots being called from the Palma end, they decide where the planes go and when. At least we made the cut again. As much as Palma is a no-brainer from NCL, it doesn’t work the same the other way round. There is plenty of capacity on NCL-PMI and EZY is a welcome return, but not devastating that the season appears shorter. I’d like to see EZY do more, and they can, and they should. But will they?

Anxiously awaiting Ryanair, Aer Lingus and Aegean’s intentions with us for S24 now. Lets hope they don’t keep us waiting too much longer and hopefully there’s a little bit of measured growth there. Belfast appears strong, Aegean seems happy with us and fingers crossed we land above Ryanair’s red line!

Jet2 rumoured to be doing Morocco next year, and by all accounts we’re potentially up for that Agadir route, finally! Picking up where Thomson couldn’t.
Given the recent additional aircraft up the road as well, I wonder if another based frame from our biggest airline could be in the pipeline, there’s still room for them

and lastly, will 2024 be the year we finally coax Turkish in?

Rumours of BRU doing the round with SN. We shall see.

Still hankering after the lover who lost interest and then walked away? They're not worth it!! :ok:

Not to sound like a wishful spotter(we have all been there!)

SN Brussels.
TK Istanbul
and Copenhagen with anyone…

My three wish list!

I'll add NICE to that list....probably Jet2 if it happens.

Budapest for me.

Aegean back, ideally for a longer season, as well as retention of all of our existing Ryanair routes (even if some have dropped to summer seasonal) as well as bolstering important links such as EI to DUB/BHD and all of our other legacy carriers would be a priority for me. Keep what we have and be grateful for anything else!

That being said, SN is an interesting one - how many times have we seen back and forth over the years with BRU. SN now has nothing smaller than an A319 and are essentially a hybrid LCC/legacy carrier, so I presume it would be a 3/4 weekly service, not the twice daily regional jets we used to get. It would be good to see BRU return, and definitely a positive to get more Star Alliance/Lufty group representation, but I can't help wonder, would Brussels be better served by a true LCC like Ryanair, NCL-CRL?

Speaking of Star, that brings the matter of Turkish, which I think must be going to happen soon. Turkish are expanding and we must be on their radar, it's only logical. Fingers crossed. You would hope that more from Star Alliance through additional carriers could strengthen routes like NCL-FRA and encourage a second daily service there in the not too distant future. Because Jesus, let me tell you, BA need a kick up the arse and a reality check and the customers need something better, more reliable. Give them the chance to vote with their feet.

As for Copenhagen and Budapest - Perfect for Ryanair. Nice, not so much, but not impossible. I think Jet2 would be the best fit and I am surprised they haven't gone for it already. That, and the massive capacity gap we still have on Barcelona compared to EZY's 5 weekly days. Very surprising.

SWBKCB, you're right. They have potential, and as long as they keep a little bit up at NCL, happy days. You never know when they might want to turn round and offer us a summer seasonal Alicante, or a couple of Berlins a week again. But I wouldn't be chucking all my eggs in the EZY basket.

You are right about NCL-BRU - there must have been dozens of attempts over the years . I've never understood who would actually fly the route tho'/ No major tourist links, no big business links, S tiny bit of connecting traffic

I've told you a million times, don't exaggerate. I think there's probably been more goes at CPH.

One day LM might convert OSLO into a non-stop route.

You just have to look at a map to see the problem that Newcastle has.

It is a relatively isolated connurbation so fishing in a relatively small pond for customers. You might attract customers from outside the northeast if you can offer destinations which aren't served by EDI, LBA, MAN but as you are starting from a smaller base that is unlikely - it is more likely that NCL is leaking customers to these largerairports. Also you'll attract people on price - hence the long standing school summer holidays switcheroo between NCL, GLA, EDI.

The north east is also relatively poor area compared to the surrounding area, so there is less propensity to fly. It's also less diverse than other regions, so there isn't the VFR demand from various diaspora.

New routes might reduce the leakage to other airports but relatively speaking NCL runs the risk of slicing up the cake into smaller pieces rather than increasing the size of the cake.

Despite the area served by the airport, it seems to marching on towards and maybe past the 5m pax figure again....I once read that that is the threshold that airlines look for when considering serving a new airport.

NCL exceeded 5m in the period 2005-2008. The peak in 2007 was 5.6m. 2017, 2018, 2019 were also over 5m, although 2019 was low than 17 and 18.

Other than Venice (one of world tourism's most desirable destinations) and Geneva (UN capital and world banking centre), Newcastle is the smallest city in Emirates' European network.*

* I had a bit too much time on my hands one day during lockdown.

One problem NCL, and Newcastle upon Tyne, has is that we are relatively isolated by English standards, and this leads to an overblown sense of how big or important we really are. We see it in the way NUFC fans got their local MP to ask questions in the House of Commons because a football team that hasn't won the league since 1927 committed the moral outrage of finishing 12th; The way people think that Northumberland has the most stunning coastline in the world (I've actually heard people say that) when it doesn't even have the most stunning coastline between Newcastle and Edinburgh; I could go on.
And sad to say, we also have seen it here when folks have commented about how bad it is that we only have one flight a day to Dubai, and that it doesn't land at a very convenient time.
We punch well above our weight. The folks who run NCL should be looking for new routes, sure, but there's a sense of entitlement in our region that's very interesting for those of us with an interest in psychology and sociology.

Rant over, as people disarmingly say when they think they might've just upset one or two people :)

People seem to think Turkish would be keen to fly into NCL and offer connections through IST. I am not so sure. Wouldn't that just dilute their EDI route. Personally, wouldn't Pegasus into SAW be a more likely proposition, offering cheaper lower fares and service 4+ hours beyond towards the middle east hot-spots as well as Turkey itself. I think they are a better fit for the local demographic, moreso than mainline Turkish.

Turkish have publically said that Newcastle and Bristol are in their development plans for the UK.

Don’t get that logic at all. The real aim for any TK route is long haul, full service connections and cheaper than EK. Pegasus don’t offer any of that.
Suspect there are not many using EDI TK from Newcastle conurbation, so doubt that is a worry for anyone. The dilutions would be for EK/KL/BA

I get the difference between Emirates and Pegasus. Chalk and cheese. That's why I think Pegasus would be a better option for an Istanbul route. It wouldn't really erode any of Emirates long-haul, but it would offer cheaper alternatives in the mid-haul Arabian Gulf. Pegasus do indeed offer connectivity as well as very good onboard Do & Co catering (granted it's an added cost). Wizz Air channels cheap low cost to the same region via their eastern Europeam hubs due to demand driven for people to head off to DXB/AUH low cost vs full service and by all accounts do well. Pegasus offer a huge network around the region with connections all possible at SAW. Turkish operating a route a little over 100 miles from another airport seems a bit much. NCL isn't greater London.

It’s such a shame that Covid scuppered LH Munich. Considering how well Frankfurt is doing I would love to see them give MUC another shot. Great route for both inbound and outbound passengers.

Love the guessing of what next.

SN Would be nice but been there how many times again

EK rumoured to be going 2x daily evening flight to be added

TK have said they hope to add NCL

SAUDI - talks they maybe adding NCL but also talk of them off to GLA instead. Maybe EDI wins being in the middle ?

Aegean - hopefully we get a longer season maybe an extra flight per week can’t see it massively jumping up for next year

jet2/TUI - I’m sure they will grow with the odd new routes.. jet2 could easily do more city breaks but it’s making money on the routes rather than another PMI !

ryanair - hopefully we get the routes back and they continue to grow. Winter months will be the issue at ncl where to send the aircraft to make money no doubt they can fill a few more during summer months

Wey aye with that attitude. What’s the point in anything then? Shall we all just give up discussing our hobby/passion/livelihood then?

Haway we’re all here for the same reason, aren’t we?

Up to a point - but the constant barrage of "who is coming next" is really useless

Much more interesting to discuss WHY they're coming (or not)

Hear, hear!

Play ??

Ryanair announced its flying to PFO over winter with a NCL based a/c along with increasing capacity on the ALC and TFS routes

Ryanair Winter 23/24

I see the airline exec's definition of the phrase 'New Route' gets another airing there :)

Hi, I’ve asked before but does anyone know about Ryanair to Milan next summer - has it been dropped or is there a chance the flights will be released soon???

Prestwick airport have said in replies to people that their flights will be "released in October" but nothing other than that unfortunately.

In a press conference this week MoL said that next summer is their biggest schedule but that they may need to stimulate demand in the UK over the next 12 months.

Ryanair doesn’t usually release there summer schedules till mid October so hang on in there
Most people don’t book till after Christmas anyway

Been mentioned on the Glasgow thread, but both Newcastle and Glasgow feature on a recent Turkish Airlines investors presentation as potential "Future Routes" (again)

https://investor.turkishairlines.com...ntation(1).pdf

Jet2
 

Summer 2025 holidays now on sale wonder if we will get something new