[Anonymous]

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

United have advised they will launch a seasonal service from Newcastle to Newark next year from May 23rd to Sep 7th.

Should make travel a but easier for those in that area and give a few more option.

[superchris]

Should work well until power is devolved to Scotland allowing them to reduce airport taxes resulting in people simply driving to Edinburgh…

United (or should that be Continental) so have a tried and tested product which works well from the regions with their 757s

[GrahamSmith]

Some more info here:

http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/100980/united-to-operate-newcastle-newark-service

Thanks.

[VoyageVoyage]

That is great news for the north east, no more trips to EDI or MAN!!

[openfly]

It only work if it is supported. Exactly the reason that BA pulled off its transatlantic services from MAN….lack of local support.

[SimonS1]

I didn’t think Newcastle would sustain the EK service, however it has been running for 7 years now and is up to a 777 aircraft with talk of it going double daily.

There is quite a big catchment area in the North East so it will be interesting to see….

[solartravels]

This is great news for the North East.
Actually a few months ago I commented on another post here that NCL should do well from a transatlantic link, based on what EK have done with their Dubai hub route.

I usually hop to LHR with BA then onwards. I will see how competitive this route is – timings look OK.

[Bath_VIP]

Having grown up in the North East, I too think this is great news. However, I am pessimistic as to whether it will be sustainable. After all, United used to do a similar service from Bristol but that was pulled after 3 years. United only chose to continue their Belfast service after the APD was reduced. Bristol airport is the same size as Newcastle and whilst the city is larger, Heathrow is closer by road to Bristol than Newcastle so the effective catchment areas is probably quite similar.

I know the EK service has been a success from NCL but I think that is due to the larger range of connections from Dubai compared to Newark. I suspect that the Newark service is more point to point so I do wonder if the demand will be there.

[SimonS1]

The number of people within an hour of Newcastle airport could be quite significant – Sunderland, Durham, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool etc. Also United has a pretty extensive route network from Newark so for anyone travelling to the Americas from Newcastle it probably opens up a lot more one-stop connections than you would have via LHR.

In any case it was reported that the reason Continental pulled the Bristol flights was not the loadings but the lack of premium travellers….

[esselle]

Openfly

The BA MAN-JFK service operated full most of the time; the problem which ultimately forced them to pull it was lack of demand in J.

In fact Y was normally quite heavily oversold, meaning that the Club cabin was populated almost entirely of upgraded Y pax.

[Bath_VIP]

In that case they are onto a hiding in Newcastle then! Bristol is the second richest city in England after London and if it can’t get premium passengers then why should they expect to get more in Newcastle?

[SimonS1]

I wouldn’t read too much into any of this.

First BA pulled its Manchester to NY flights saying there wasn’t the margin etc etc, however that hasn’t stopped United operating directly between the two airports using the same 757 config as they will use to Newcastle.

Second even though Bristol is bigger/richer it is as you said earlier in relatively easy travelling distance to London.

I guess time will tell – initially it appears to be seasonal so they can test the market.

[JohnHarper]

Emirates at Newcastle succeeds because of the volume of cargo they carry, that and not passenger volumes was the driver behind the introduction of the 773 rather than the A330. I also believe the premium cabin is hugely under subscribed.

Somehow I can’t see the yields making a NCL-EWR service worthwhile. My impression of NCL is Geordie, the missus and bairns heading off to bucket and spade land on holiday in the main. I’m always glad I have access to a lounge on my infrequent visits.

[Author]

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