Newcastle International Airport

About Newcastle International Airport

Newcastle International Airport is the largest airport in North East England. It is at Woolsington, north-west of Newcastle upon Tyne city centre, and serves Tyneside, Northumberland, County Durham and the wider region. According to UK Civil Aviation Authority figures, the airport handled 5,480,380 terminal passengers in 2025, around 5.5 million, an increase of about 6.6% on 2024.

The airport is run by Newcastle International Airport Limited. Seven local councils own 51%: Newcastle, Sunderland, Durham, Gateshead, North Tyneside, Northumberland and South Tyneside. The other 49% belongs to a holding company in which the Spanish airport group Aena bought a 51% stake in May 2026, with InfraBridge holding the rest.

Newcastle has a single terminal and one asphalt runway, 2,330 metres long. The Tyne and Wear Metro runs to a station at the terminal, which gives the airport a direct rail link to the city centre.

How to get to Newcastle International Airport

By Metro

Airport Metro station is next to the terminal. Tyne and Wear Metro trains run directly to Newcastle city centre in about 25 minutes, and continue to other parts of Tyne and Wear.

By train

Passengers arriving by National Rail can change at Newcastle Central Station for the Metro to the airport.

By bus

Arriva's Northumberland Airlink service 777 links Morpeth, Ponteland, the airport and Kingston Park up to once an hour, from early morning until late evening, seven days a week. It stops right outside the terminal building. Go North East also runs a local service through Dinnington, Prestwick, the airport and Woolsington.

By road

The main road access is the A696, with connections to the A1. The postcode for sat nav is NE13 8BZ. The airport runs several car parks on site and a waiting zone for drivers collecting passengers. Details and booking are on the official website.

Terminal and facilities

Passenger services in the terminal include:

• Aspire Lounge, which can be pre-booked by passengers on any airline. The Aspire Executive Lounge offers complimentary food and drinks, and Suite by Aspire has views across the airfield and food and drink served at your seat.
• Security Fast Track, which can be booked before travelling.
• Passenger assistance for travellers with a disability, reduced mobility or a temporary condition.
• A Changing Places toilet in the check-in area before security.
• A multi-faith prayer room and quiet space near the security entrance.

Shops, restaurants, bars and car hire are also available.

Airlines and destinations

Most flights from Newcastle are short-haul, to cities and holiday resorts across Europe, including Spain, the Canary Islands, Portugal, Greece and Turkey. There are also flights to North Africa and a long-haul service to Dubai.

easyJet opened a three-aircraft base at Newcastle on 22 March 2026 and added routes such as Antalya, Corfu, Dalaman, Faro, Malta, Nice, Prague, Rhodes, Sharm El Sheikh and Enfidha. Jet2.com, Ryanair and TUI fly to a wide range of leisure destinations. Emirates flies daily to Dubai, after moving to a daily Airbus A350 service in May 2026. KLM connects the airport with Amsterdam Schiphol, and SunExpress increased its flights to Antalya and Dalaman for summer 2026.

History

The airport opened on 26 July 1935 as Woolsington Aerodrome, and the Secretary of State for Air carried out the opening. In 1967 the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, opened a new terminal and a runway extension.

The Tyne and Wear Metro was extended to the airport in 1991, giving the terminal a direct rail link to the city centre. More recent milestones are the opening of easyJet's base in March 2026 and the completion of the Aena investment in May 2026.