United Airlines have confirmed that following two summer seasons of operation, their service to New York/Newark will not be returning in 2017.
The service will continue to operate 6 days a week for the remainder of summer 2016, until 6th September.
Nick Jones, Interim Chief Executive of Newcastle International said:
“We understand that this will be very disappointing news. We, United Airlines and our regional partners really have given the New York route our best possible shot during its seasonal period of operation. Passenger numbers in 2016 have been higher than in 2015, but with great regret we understand United’s decision.
“We would like to thank all of our customers who have used the service. We continue to have numerous connections for business travellers to the US via our Heathrow, Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin and other hub services, regular Thomson flights to Orlando and Cancun, as well as seasonal leisure flights to New York with Jet2.com, and we will continue to explore future opportunities for transatlantic flights.
“Newcastle International Airport remains very strong, with passenger numbers growing, and a number of new routes, including Berlin, Warsaw and Gdansk, recently announced. This news regarding the New York service is certainly not reflective of the general trend at the Airport.”
Councillor Iain Malcolm, Leader of South Tyneside Council, and Leader of the LA7, said:
“This is disappointing news. The region pulled together magnificently to secure a New York service, and we have all worked extremely hard to make it work. While it is a blow to lose the service, especially given that numbers were up, the reasons are understandable. Newcastle International Airport, however, remains in good shape with strong growth in passenger numbers and a significant number of new services announced recently.”
United Airlines is the world’s largest airline when measured by number of destinations served, and the second largest when measured by scheduled passenger-kilometres flown.