A tiny airport in a vibrant UK city has been named the “best in the world”- with huge airports like Heathrow and Gatwick being beaten out. Newcastle Airport was awarded the esteemed title at the Routes World Conference in Istanbul, Turkey.
The conference happened last year and it was the only UK airport to receive a nomination across any of the categories.
The airport was named the best in the world in the “under 5 million passengers per year” category. The award for the best overall airport went to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Larnaka International Airport in Cyprus and Brussels Airport in Belgium also won awards in different categories.
It comes as the airport has recently added four new airlines, six more based aircraft, thirty new routes, and twelve fresh destinations. The Newcastle International Airport has also undergone major improvement works.
The airport has made more than £20million worth of improvements to its security area, departure lounge and its brand new world’s first three-tier Aspire Lounge.
Nick Jones, chief executive at Newcastle International Airport, heralded the award and said: “This achievement is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our employees across the airport.
“And demonstrates our commitment to providing the best customer service to our passengers and business partners. All of which allows us to win prestigious awards such as this.”
The airport was acclaimed for its airline engagement, and operational delivery and for providing comprehensive marketing and travel trade exposure.
Not only this, the airport is gearing up for summer season travel as it expects to welcome over 3.5 million passengers.
The airport said on its official website: “Passengers will notice a significant difference in the Airport experience on their next journey – including a new security search area, transformed catering outlets and the world’s first 3-tier lounge product.
“This summer passengers will be able to choose from up to 41 flights a week to Turkey, up to 93 flights a week to Spain and the Balearics and up to 42 flights a week to Greece, as well as benefiting from additional capacity to destinations including Barcelona, Milan, Zadar, Ibiza and Dalaman.
“EasyJet has launched new flights to Alicante and Jet2.com has new flights to Chania. The Airport’s newest airline partner, AEGEAN, will provide twice-weekly flights to Athens for the second summer season and TUI will operate two new summer destinations from Newcastle – Cape Verde and Sharm el Sheikh.”
Dean Ward, Director of Commercial at Newcastle International Airport said: “We are committed to providing the best possible customer experience and the recent investments over the winter period are a fantastic example of this.
“We are extremely proud of the work that has gone in to complete the security search area project ahead of the summer season, which is already providing passengers with a hassle-free start to their journey.
“The investment in the departure lounge is all based upon passenger feedback. The new outlets not only look world-class but provide passengers with a relaxing, comfortable environment to enjoy prior to boarding their flights – as well as serving a fantastic range of food and drink options to suit everyone.”