Newcastle Airport named best airport in the UK and Ireland

It received the award at the 2024 Travel Industry Awards, organised by the national trade magazine Travel Trade Gazette (TTG).

The awards, regarded as one of the travel industry’s most respected honours, are voted for by tourism industry leaders.

The airport was recognised for its exceptional customer service, operational excellence, and commitment to a fairer travel industry.

It has been noted for its industry-leading security queue times and ranked among the top three UK airports for on-time performance in 2023.

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The airport’s efforts in supporting trade partners were also acknowledged, thanks to its full-time, on-the-road trade support.

The airport’s initiatives in promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace, as well as its work to assist passengers with disabilities, contributed to the accolade.

Nick Jones, chief executive at Newcastle Airport, said: “This is a tremendous achievement for our entire team and partners, who work tirelessly to ensure we continue to deliver a world-class experience for our passengers and maintain the highest standards across all areas of our business.”

The award follows a period of significant investment by the airport, with over £20million recently spent on upgrading its terminal to enhance the passenger experience.

This included redeveloping the security search area with next-generation security scanners, enabling 98 per cent of passengers to pass through security in under 10 minutes.

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The departure lounge has seen a full refurbishment of its catering outlets, and the introduction of a three-tier lounge product by Aspire, a world-first for the lounge provider.

Newcastle Airport continues to receive high customer satisfaction ratings, with its passenger assistance team receiving the top rating of ‘Very Good’ in the Civil Aviation Authority’s Accessibility Audit.

A 2023 study estimated the Airport’s contribution to the Northeast economy at nearly £1billion in gross value added (GVA), supporting approximately 13,350 jobs.

Further investment is planned for this winter, with a £17million project to resurface the Airport’s runway and taxiways, the largest capital investment in its history.

An additional £3million will be allocated to further improvements in the departure lounge and retail outlets, a spokesperson from Newcastle Airport said.