Newcastle Airport has marked six straight years of growth by welcoming its one millionth passenger in 2017.
Craig McLean, the airport’s one millionth visitor this calendar year was handed £100 worth of World Duty Free Vouchers when he checked in for Thomson’s direct Dreamliner service to Orlando with wife Kirsty and daughters Emily and Poppy.
Strong demand on non-EU routes to the likes of Dubai, Geneva and the Canaries has seen the airport’s international traffic grow, while EU-scheduled traffic continues to rise due to an increase in capacity on easyJet, Jet2 and Ryanair services, with the Irish recently carrier starting four new routes including Newcastle’s first ever service to Madrid.
Increased demand for Florida has also been noticed, with an additional fortnightly flight to Florida on the Thomson Dreamliner set to start from Wednesday May 3.
John Irving, Business Development Director at Newcastle International Airport, said: “We are delighted to have already welcomed one million passengers through the terminal in 2017 and it was wonderful to share the celebrations with the McLean family as they prepared to jet off on holiday to Florida.
“We continue to invest in the airport to help ensure we match the needs of all our passengers whether they are travelling for business or leisure.
“It’s very important that people have choice from their local airport. With over 80 direct destinations now available from Newcastle and connections across the globe thanks to our extensive hub network, we will continue to work with all our airline partners to ensure the region remains well connected.”
Craig McLean, from Stockton-On-Tees, added: “It’s was a great feeling to be the one millionth passenger to use the airport this year and along with winning the World Duty Free vouchers, this has made our family holiday trip extra special.”