Airport History - Newcastle Airport Car Parking from SkyParkSecure
History of Newcastle Airport
Q. What does an ambulance room, the Princess Royal and Tony Blair all have in common?
A. They are all in the History of Newcastle Airport
The Beginning…
1935 - Newcastle Airport started life on the 26th July as a grass runway, a club house, a hangar, workshops, an ambulance room, a hose for petrol and a garage. The cost was a mere £35,000. The first scheduled service calling here flew between Croydon and Perth, Scotland, operated by North Eastern Airways using Rapide and 8 seater Airspeed Envoy aircraft.
The 1950’s…
1952 – This year saw Early Growth Jim Denyer being appointed as the first Airport Manager. His number one aim was to put Newcastle on the map. In that year Hunting Air Transport commenced flying to Bovingdon in London. Further routes were soon added - to Northern Ireland, Dublin, Amsterdam and Dusseldorf.
1954 - Scheduled Services totaled some 35 per week.
The 1960’s…
1960's - This saw the boom in people heading by air for sunshine holidays. As well as meeting their needs, the Airport was now carving out a major role in encouraging business and development in the North East of England. April 1963 - As a coordinated response to the opportunity, the leading local authorities in the region came together in to form the North East Regional Airport Committee. They quickly appointed a firm of consulting engineers to advise on development requirements. Some 18 months later construction work began. The North East now had a modern airport constructed to international standards and capable of catering for both scheduled and charter services. A new runway and apron was developed, regarded, strengthened and extended to its present length of 2332 meters. Expansion Within 6 years, passenger figures doubled to 700,000 per year. The mid 1970's - Saw the Airport terminal again bulging at the seams and more and more people were trying to squeeze their way through a building now too small. The first jumbo jet arriving at the Airport, bringing a party from America, signaled Newcastle Airport's potential to play in the intercontinental league. 1978 - The Government, in its White Paper on Airports Policy, designated Newcastle Airport as a Category B regional airport. July 1980 -The extension plans were immediately put into action and building work began. 1984 – Passengers were now passing through Newcastle Airport topped 1.24 million. 1989 - Jim Denyer retired, 1.6 million passengers passed through the Airport - an impressive legacy for his successor, Trevor Went, only the second Managing Director of Newcastle Airport. 1991 – Was although, in general terms, the worst in aviation history, passenger figures at Newcastle Airport reached a record breaking 1.67m by the end of the financial year. 1992/3 - The financial year was another record breaking one for the Airport Company with a turnover of £25.6m and a gross profit before tax of £7.597m. Based on turnover, the Company ranked as 117th largest in the region, whilst based on profit it ranked 39th. 26th May 1994 - Such success required an additional 2400 surface level car parking spaces and the extended and improved terminal building which was opened on the by the Princess Royal. Passenger numbers continued to grow. October 2000 – Saw a major extension to the terminal was officially opened by Tony Blair, the Prime Minister. 4th May 2001 - A further major step with the development of Newcastle Airport was taken by the 7 local authority share holders when 49% of the shares in the Airport Company were sold to Copenhagen Airport, thus ensuring a truly international Newcastle Airport. "Great oak trees grow from little acorns" - Newcastle Airport looks set to reach new heights.The 1970’s…
The 1980’s…
The 1990’s…
Into the 21 st Century…
