Newcastle Airport - General Thread

[Rickoza]

First post - hope it's in the right place! Can anyone advise me which type of aircraft Thomas Cook will use on the flights to Enfidha (Tunisia) on Wednesday nights during the Summer? Flying there at the end of June. Thanks.

 

[News Guru]

[textarea]Newcastle Airport expects busiest Easter for 3 years

Newcastle Airport is expecting its busiest weekend of the year so far and its busiest Easter for three years as passenger numbers begin to recover following the recession, ITV News reports. Around 45,000 people are expected to pass through the terminal between Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Around 400 flights will either take off or land over the four day period after an average of around 10,000 passengers per day have been jetted off during the first week of the Easter school holidays. Over the full period, the airport expects 190,000 people to travel in and out. The most popular destinations include the Canaries, Spain and Tunisia; New York via either London, Amsterdam or Paris; and long haul flights via Dubai.

For more information on this airport news story visit: http://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/2012- ... r-3-years/[/textarea]

 

[Aviador]

[textarea]Newcastle Airport In Multi-Million Pound High Court Battle With Law Firm
By Andy Hughes Location: Newcastle Airport

Newcastle Airport is locked in a multi-million pound High Court battle with a law firm after huge sums of taxpayers money were paid to two executives.

The airport is currently involved in a claim worth nearly £5million against Eversheds, the lawyers who advised the airport committee on a £377million mortgage deal with the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2006.

The airport, which is partly-owned by the region’s seven councils, alleges that Eversheds allowed former chief executive John Parkin and former finance director Lars Friis to be paid £8.5million between them for simply organising the refinance deal.

Read the full story: http://tyneandwear.sky.com/news/article/19460[/textarea]

 

[Aviador]

[textarea]Copenhagen Airports to sell stake in Newcastle International airport

Copenhagen Airports has announced plans to sell its 49% stake in Newcastle International airport parent company NIAL Group. The company is inviting potential buyers to submit bids for the stake and expects the divestment to be completed by the end of the year.

Read more: http://www.moodiereport.com/document.ph ... c_id=31180[/textarea]

Any idea on who might buy the airport? I seem to recall a report by the accounts consultancy firm Deloite saying the airport was worth much less than it was a few years ago so it will be interesting to see who shows interest in purchasing the airport.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Any idea on who might buy the airport? I seem to recall a report by the accounts consultancy firm Deloite saying the airport was worth much less than it was a few years ago so it will be interesting to see who shows interest in purchasing the airport.

Bloomberg quotes the Sunday Times in saying that the following funds have expressed interest but Bloomberg doesn't know where the ST gleaned its information:

3i Group plc, Antin Infrastructure Partners SAS , IMF Australia Ltd.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-2 ... ports.html

 

[tleeds]

Wouldn't MAG be a potential bidder...

I know they were recently linked to Stansted as BAA have been told they need to sell another airport...

(They have recently won the right to appeal against selling Stansted in a new ruling, according to the Financial Times)

 

[News Guru]

[textarea]Council’s cash promise to airport chiefs

NEWCASTLE AIRPORT ... South Tyneside Council will continue to fund it.

COUNCIL chiefs in South Tyneside have pledged to keep pumping money into Newcastle International Airport as it refinances its debts.

Each of the seven North East authorities – which have a combined 51 per cent stake in the aiport – have revealed they are making provision in their budgets to enable them to invest back into the site.

Each one is now considering the maximum they can put forward, which is based on their individual shareholding, and say any cash they do invest will be made back through interest and dividends from the airport.

It’s believed Sunderland City Council could be proposing to give up to £20m to help re-finance airport debts, but it’s unclear how much South Tyneside Council, which is the lead authority, will suggest.

Read more: http://www.shieldsgazette.com/news/busi ... -1-4739193[/textarea]

 

[Ray Finkle]

Apparently SAS are to start NCL-CPH from Feb 5th daily (evening) with a CRJ200, should be bookable from 15th Nov.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Toronto

Rather than start a new thread for an airline that is pulling out of NCL, I've put this in the NCL general thread.

The Air Transat summer service to Toronto on behalf of Canadian Affair will not operate in summer 2013.

For the past few years it's operated a joint service with Exeter which has also been axed for summer 2013.

 

[Aviador]

Crikey, that' flight has been operating for years. The Canadian market must be really dropping off if this has been pulled by Canadian Affair.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

[textarea]Newcastle Airport could get government aid after all - if EU agrees

More confusion over whether Newcastle Airport was in line for a share of a £20 million fund to help it develop new routes followed a statement from Ministers that they must ask the European Commission for permission to hand over the cash.

Newcastle MP Chi Onwurah received assurances that the Government hoped to back Newcastle Airport, as she questioned Transport Ministers in the House of Commons.

But she said: “It would have been better to have got the policy right in the first place than trying to fix it now.”

It follows Chancellor George Osborne’s announcement in the Budget earlier this year that a £20 million Regional Air Connectivity Fund would be made available for airports outside the planned high speed rail network to help them attract airlines and launch new services.

This raised hopes Newcastle Airport could secure its long-held ambition of providing regular trans-Atlantic flights.

But it then emerged that only airports with less than three million annual passengers would be eligible for the assistance - while Newcastle currently serves around 4.7m each year.

The airport asked local MPs to help it secure a share of the fund.

And Ministers have now said they hope to ensure airports with fewer than five million passengers are included, but only if the EU agrees.[/textarea]

Full report at http://www.thejournal.co.uk/business/bu ... id-7420425

Some reason for optimism then at NCL although how effective this fund will really be must be open to considerable argument.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Chancellor's Warning Over The Future of Newcastle Airport

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1 ... rt/?ref=mr

George Osborne in evidence to the Commons Treasury select committee said that a 'big fall' in air passenger duty in Scotland would have an impact on passenger numbers in England, particularly in the North-East.

He said the Conservative and Labour parties should work together to support the regional northern airports to ensure they don't suffer a loss but he suggested no solution to the predicament.

If he's worried he has the answer in his own hands: reduce APD in England and Wales (although the latter may yet have the power devolved to it which would then potentially adversely affect the likes of Bristol and Birmingham airports) to the level that Scotland decides so that there is a level playing field around the whole of mainland Britain.

Better still abolish APD altogether.

 

[Tarn Spotter]

Re: Leeds Bradford - General Thread

Maybe Newcastle should make hay whilst the sun shines.
Talking to a friends in the area last week who is putting off booking in the hope the Scottish parliament scraps the airport duty.
This will see the residents of this region rushing over the border.

 

[Aviador]

I'm not convinced the saving would be large enough to make it worthwhile for people to trek to Scotland from the North East. The die hard folk will always follow a bargain but if the saving isn't more than £100 for a family of four, I doubt it will be worth it for the majority of people after paying for transfer costs and parking charges in Scotland.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Talking to a friends in the area last week who is putting off booking in the hope the Scottish parliament scraps the airport duty.

The Scottish government has already said that although it would like to abolish APD it can't afford to do so straight away and will reduce it by about 50% initially.

 

[Seasider]

Don't worry about Tynesiders going over the border, my daughter and family are flying from Glasgow and they live in East Yorkshire! Different school holidays means they can save £500 on MAN/LBA.

 

[Aviador]

Now that's a saving worth making! We've booked at the end of August and it's slightly cheaper than the week earlier because the Leeds school holidays start and end a week later than most other places in England.

 

[Aviador]

Newcastle Airport future under threat if Scottish taxes are slashed, transport minister admits

Surely it is more expensive for airlines to operate to the Scottish airports anyway with their more northerly position? Can any APD savings really make it worth while to travel by road or rail to fly from Edinburgh or Glasgow?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Surely it is more expensive for airlines to operate to the Scottish airports anyway with their more northerly position? Can any APD savings really make it worth while to travel by road or rail to fly from Edinburgh or Glasgow?

I think the point that the transport minister is making is that low-cost airlines would find the prospect of lower APD rates extremely appealing and would locate more resources in Scotland with the likes of NCL seeing less. Initially, the Scottish leadership has said it will reduce APD rates by 50%. It would like to abolish APD entirely but cannot afford to do so yet.

Perhaps £6.50 per sector would not in itself cause passengers to abandon NCL but even this could tempt the likes of Ryanair. If they reduced average fares by £3 they would still make an extra £3.50 per passenger or around £600 on a typical sector.

Long haul would be a much bigger saving including flights via hubs such as AMS.

This week the Institute for Public Policy Research has published a lengthy paper on the likely effects to the Bristol region if Wales gained more devolved fiscal and taxation powers which seems almost guaranteed. At present APD is not amongst the tax raising powers being devolved but if Labour wins the election and relies on the support of SNP and Plaid Cymru to run the UK there seems not much doubt that APD will be included.

Part of the IPPR paper dealt with APD effects and feels that the West Country/South Wales areas are much more closely linked especially physically than Scotland and Northeast England, and that a nil rate in Wales which is what the Wales Assembly proposes would have a significant effect on BRS. It quotes HMRC estimating that BRS could lose 25% of its passenger numbers by 2020.

I don't understand the transport minister's point when he says that EU regulations prevent regional variations in England. Scotland and Wales, not to mention Northern Ireland, are all part of the UK and there will be variable rates in those countries once APD is devolved (there already are in part in Northern Ireland).

This just shows what a mess the politicians have got us into. They were so desperate to prevent Scotland voting for independence that all the parties promised the earth if the country stayed within the UK. They gave little if any thought to the consequences and in so many things following devolution/partial devolution it's England that is suffering, especially the regions.

 

[jason1-11]

After booking a day return for a business meeting up in the NorthEast, I said I would compare my airport experience between Newcastle Airport with Leeds.

Flight Out

British Airways Airbus A320. Usually fast and efficient service that I have become accustomed to with British Airways and T5. Probably 90% full with a flight time of 55 minutes. 7 aircraft in front of us for takeoff, but still arrived early. Cloud all the way so no pictures of LBA unfortunately.

Arrivals – Domestic

2 large carrousels with a low roof similar to Leeds. Speedy and efficient, but there weren’t many domestic arrivals at the time.

Terminal

Bright and breezy with lots of space. The check in section appears to be split into 2 (assume a past redevelopment ) with the newer section looking impressive. At the time of my visit, it was filled with lots eager passengers heading to Dubai and onwards. Appeared to be many foreign travelers milling around so would assume a large number of inbound tourists, business people etc are using the Airport to access the region. I liked the fact that International Arrivals is situated next to Departures so all the facilities are co-used for “meeters and greaters.”

Range of Destinations

Fanatic range for a regional airport including New York and Dubai as the highlights. Multi daily departures to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Heathrow, an impressive list of IT destinations including Thomson 787 operations plus a long standing Easyjet base. The only thing missing is a based Ryanair operation, but with their recent expansion at NCL, can only imagine it’s on the cards and possibly an enhanced Flybe regional offering.

Departures

Situated on the 2nd floor there were 7 security scanners which lead in to a huge snaking duty-free shop. Once in the Departure area all the usual bars and shops are all spread out over one floor with all the restaurants and bars affording fantastic views over the whole airfield. A real sense of space, proportion and natural light, but unsure what it would be like during the 6am rush.

The BA lounge looked impressive and is a huge plus for the business community.

Flight back

Airbus A321.

Delayed 2 hours due the late arrival of the crew from a previous flight and thunderstorms in the London area. Surprisingly the flight was ~75% full which may have been influenced by the previous departure being cancelled. 50 minutes back and straight into Heathrow at 2345.

Overall

A very nice well functioning regional airport with all facilities in proportion to the size of the building and its catchment area. The Metro Link into Central Newcastle is a huge plus. Runways similar length to Leeds, but not with all the associated issues which is evident when a 777-300 lands.

Due to its limited catchment area, may struggle to grow much more than currently being achieved, but Leeds could certainly learn a lot from the setup, infrastructure and terminal layout. I’m sure Mr. Parkin is fully aware of course due to his previous employment.

Conclusion 8/10 and sadly puts Leeds to shame in all respects.