United Airlines will introduce nonstop flights between Newcastle and its New York hub, Newark Liberty International Airport, during the period May 23 to Sep. 7, 2015 (both dates westbound), subject to government approval.
The frequency of the service will be five times weekly. It will be Newcastle’s (NCL) first scheduled nonstop trans-Atlantic service.
The flights will be operated by Boeing 757-200 aircraft with a total of 169 seats – 16 flat-bed seats in United BusinessFirst and 153 in United Economy, including 45 Economy Plus seats with added legroom and increased personal space.
Bob Schumacher, United’s Managing Director Sales – U.K. & Ireland said, “We’re very excited about introducing nonstop flights to New York from Newcastle next summer. We’ll be offering the people of Northeast England easy, convenient travel options not only to New York City but also to destinations throughout the Americas. United already offers trans-Atlantic service from more cities in the U.K. than any other airline and we’ve every reason to be confident that this new service will be a success.”
‘Game-Changing New Route’
David Laws, Chief Executive, Newcastle Airport, said: “For many years, and everywhere I go, people have been stopping me and asking, when is the North East going to get a New York service? United Airlines is the best airline to operate this service. They have an exceptional track record of linking U.K. regions to their New York/Newark hub, where customers can then connect to over one hundred onward destinations.”
Councillor Iain Malcolm, Leader of South Tyneside Council and lead of the LA7 shareholders, commented: “This new service will be hugely significant, in terms of further enhancing regional connectivity, growing the regional economy, attracting inward investment and encouraging inbound tourism from North America. The Local Authorities and our partner organisations will work hard to make the route a success. We will work with inbound tourism bodies to promote the region to a new audience and we will work with the business community to increase awareness of the connectivity opened up.”
Newark hub
The Newcastle flights have been conveniently timed to connect at New York/Newark with an extensive network of service to destinations throughout the Americas. United operates flights from New York/Newark to more than 300 destinations throughout North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, including more than 100 served nonstop.
United operates the largest hub in the New York City metropolitan area at Newark Liberty International Airport.
United UK flights
United operates up to 17 flights per day from London/Heathrow to six of its U.S. hubs: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C./Dulles. In addition, the airline offers nonstop service from Manchester to New York/Newark and (on a seasonal basis) Washington/Dulles, from Edinburgh to New York/Newark and (on a seasonal basis) Chicago, and from Belfast, Birmingham and Glasgow to New York/Newark. United offers nonstop trans-Atlantic service from more U.K. cities than any other airline.
Dublin as a UK hub
In the last week two UK airports have announced flights to the U.S. via Dublin.
Aer Lingus Regional launched its double-daily Dublin-Leeds Bradford service. The service is operated by Stobart Air and provides a link to the US through Dublin for Leeds-based passengers who can conveniently connect to Aer Lingus’ mainline transatlantic services.
A weekly flight from Carlisle to Dublin will be operated by Stobart Air’s 48-seater ATR42-500 jet, starting mid-2015.
At Dublin passengers will undertake all US immigration and customs inspections before transferring to Aer Lingus flights to New York, Orlando, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco, and can also fly on to Toronto..
Dublin is becoming a significant hub for passengers in the North and Scotland who want to fly to the U.S. and avoid airports such as Heathrow.
Dublin is now ranked 7th in Europe as a hub for transatlantic passengers ahead of much bigger airports such as Istanbul, Brussels and Gatwick.
Dublin offers 134 direct return flights a week to North America. Only the biggest European hubs, Heathrow, Paris Charles De Gaulle, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Madrid and Rome currently offer more frequent services.