Early years In 1929,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne City Council set up a special committee to investigate the potential for building an airport to serve the North-East of England, considering 18 locations before selecting a site at
Woolsington, about northwest of the city centre. The airport was opened on 26 July 1935 as Woolsington Aerodrome by the
Secretary of State for Air, Sir
Phillip Cunliffe-Lister. Incorporating a clubhouse,
hangar, workshops, fuel garage and grass
runway, it cost £35,000 to build. The airport became the base for the Newcastle upon Tyne Flying Club, which moved from its previous home at
Cramlington Aerodrome and ran the new airport on behalf of the council. On 1 June 1939,
No. 43 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School, operated by Newcastle Flying Club and equipped with a mixture of
de Havilland Tiger Moths,
Miles Magisters and
Hawker Hinds opened at Woolsington, as one of a large number of civil-operated flying schools set up to train aircrew for the
RAF. The school was disbanded on 3 September 1939, with the outbreak of the
Second World War. In 1940, the airfield was occasionally used to operate detachments of
Supermarine Spitfire fighters from
RAF Acklington-based
72 Squadron. On 25 July that year, No. 83 Maintenance Unit RAF, tasked with recovering crashed aircraft and salvaging any usable parts, was formed at Woolsington, remaining operational until April 1946. The airfield was also used as a base for the single Tiger Moth of the
Durham University Air Squadron from February 1941, and from 1942 to 1943 by detachments from
No. 278 Squadron RAF, operating
Westland Lysander and
Supermarine Walrus in the air sea rescue role.
No. 281 Squadron RAF, another air sea rescue squadron, operated from Woolsington from June to October 1943, while from November 1943 to June 1945, the airfield was used as a satellite field for
No. 62 OTU, based at
RAF Ouston. In 1967, the construction of a runway extension and new
terminal was completed, along with an
apron and a new
air traffic control tower. These new additions were officially opened by the
Prime Minister,
Harold Wilson on 17 February 1967. in the same decade it was re-branded as Newcastle Airport. The 1980s saw further investment in
check-in,
catering and
duty-free shops. In 1991,
Airport Metro station opened, connecting the airport with
Newcastle City Centre using the
Tyne and Wear Metro system.
Since the 2000s In August 2004, an extended and refurbished Departure Terminal was opened. The refurbishment included a extension with new shops, cafes and 1,200 new seats for waiting passengers. ,
Thomas Cook and
Emirates at the airport in 2014 In 2006, a record 5.4million passengers used the airport, according to
Civil Aviation Authority figures. Rapid expansion in passenger traffic has led to increasing commercial use of the south side of the airport. This was previously used for
general aviation, but is now used for freight, mail and corporate flights. This is partially due to difficulties obtaining departure and arrival slots for
light aircraft traffic, which need to be separated from larger aircraft to protect against
wake turbulence. As part of the Airport Master Plan, the south-side area is to be expanded with maintenance facilities including new
hangar and apron areas. In January 2007, it was announced that
Emirates were to begin a daily non-stop service to
Dubai from the airport. This service started on 7 September 2007 and has operated ever since. Until 2012, the route was flown by an
Airbus A330. Since September 2012 it has been flown by a
Boeing 777. Also in 2007, now defunct carrier
Flyglobespan shortly connected Newcastle with
Hamilton, Ontario, through this serving the greater
Toronto area. Services were discontinued the same summer. In 2012,
Air Transat cut its route linking Newcastle with
Toronto-Pearson, which had operated for several years. Through this, Newcastle was left without any
transatlantic service. However, in August 2016, United Airlines announced it would discontinue its seasonal route from Newark to Newcastle in 2017 after operating for just two consecutive seasons, citing economic reasons. In July 2017, it was announced that the airport would be investing £3million on a terminal expansion project which is part of overall £20million improvement plans running from 2016 to 2017. This £20m improvement plan included a new radar system alongside digital signage in the check-in areas and the installation of new flooring. The £3m plan includes an extension to the terminal by and will increase the equipment in the security hall, bringing in improved technology to speed up procedures there. This was due to be constructed over the winter of 2017/2018. Until 2019,
Jet2.com frequently linked its base in Newcastle with
Newark during
Christmas time. However, these services have not been resumed since the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. However, since this decision the airline resumed its operations to
Palma de Mallorca and
Geneva in 2022 as well as
Alicante,
Amsterdam and
Paris Charles de Gaulle in 2024. and
Málaga and a winter seasonal route to
Lyon in 2025. In April 2023,
TUI announced its programme at the airport for summer 2024, operating up to 84 weekly flights to a total of 31 destinations on offer using an additional fifth aircraft, including new routes to
Sal,
Cape Verde and
Sharm El Sheikh,
Egypt. In May 2025, EasyJet announced that they would be reopening their base at the airport, after closing the base during the pandemic. The airline announced that they would be basing three aircraft from the start of summer 2026 with 11 new destinations, bringing their total number of routes up to 19. == Facilities ==