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Newcastle International Airport poised for new routes and investments for 2015

Newcastle International Airport is raring to go for 2015 with a host of new routes and destinations for passengers, and a range of new outlets as part of its £14 million departure lounge development.

The countdown has begun with the new service to New York with United Airlines now less than 150 days away. The first flight leaves on 23rd May and a recent visit by United Airlines personnel based in Chicago to the airport confirms everything is on track for the first flight.

Around 160 United staff based in Chicago are working on the project to bring service to Newcastle covering activities such as aircraft catering, cleaning, engineering, cargo and ground handling arrangements.

This summer service connects at New York’s Newark Airport with United flights linking passengers to over 300 North American, Central American, Caribbean and South American destinations.

Popular early sellers include New York itself and the holiday destinations of Florida and Las Vegas but bookings have already been made to destinations across the United States.

As well as celebrating new routes and ongoing investments, the airport also recently announced a new partnership as both the Newcastle United Foundation and Sunderland AFC’s Foundation of Light have joined forces for the first time to raise funds as the airport’s adopted charities.

Other scheduled services to take-off in 2015 include Stansted flights with Flybe from late March and a year-round service to Geneva with easyJet which recommences in June.

A number of carriers have also added new holiday destinations for summer 2015. New services include Santorini and Varna with Thomas Cook, Dubrovnik with Thomson, Antalya, Split in Croatia, Corfu and Rhodes with easyJet and Larnaca, Malta, Zante and Tunisia with Jet2.com. In winter Thomson will add Hurghada and Larnaca to their schedules.

In 2013, work began on a major departure lounge development which has so far seen the introduction of a number of new outlets including The Flying Hippo, Beer House, Cabin Bar and Aspire Lounge. New retail units have also opened including Traveller, Cuba Lily, Travelex and WHSmith.

Chief Executive at Newcastle International Airport, David Laws, said: “It’s been a hugely successful year for Newcastle International Airport. We’ve have a very strong summer and passenger numbers are up. 2015 will be a year of celebration as enter our 80th anniversary year. We have a number of exciting things planned, so watch this space!

“Recently we achieved our long term goal of securing a trans-Atlantic service to New York with United Airlines. We’re delighted that this will begin to operate in May 2015, tickets are on sale now and we’d encourage the North East travelling public to get behind this route and book up for summer 2015.

“A number of our airline business partners have also added services to their schedules for the year and we’ll be travelling to new destinations including Stansted, Split in Croatia, Santorini in Greece, and Hurghada in Egypt.

“We’re part way through our exciting £14 million departure lounge development which will be completed in summer 2015. A number of new concepts will open for the benefit of passengers as we continue to invest in our facilities to ensure we achieve our aim of being the UK’s most welcoming airport.

“In 2014 we were also named by Which? as the best large airport for the second year running which was a wonderful accolade. We’re sure 2015 is going to be even better than the last and wish all our passengers a Happy New Year!”

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