Loganair's Grand Plans for Newcastle in 2022

Loganair have been an established and growing regional carrier in the United Kingdom - providing regional links, with bases in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Northern England and Isle of Man. However, following the news that Loganair is to cut its Aberdeen to Newcastle route - what is the future of the Tyne & Wear base.

Loganair first established its Newcastle base in March 2019 with flights to Brussels and Stavanger, with the base growing to two based aircraft and the network evolved and altered following the collapse of Flybe in March 2020. In August 2021, Loganair will serve 4 routes from Newcastle: Exeter, Jersey, Newquay and Southampton.

All four of these routes were formally served by Flybe until its collapse in March 2020 and has since been picked up by Loganair. The carrier has allowed North East England to maintain connections across the British Isles - however, with the loss of an established Aberdeen route (which operated up to 3x daily since September 2019), this may lead to some concern for Newcastle Airport and its regional links.

Approximately 50 miles south of Newcastle is Teesside Airport, where Loganair opened a 2 aircraft base in early 2021. This base has allowed Loganair to grow its network to 6 routes - Aberdeen, Belfast City, Bristol, Jersey, London Heathrow and Newquay, with Dublin forecast to be added in Summer 2022. This market has an overlapping catchment to Newcastle - which could also be concerning to Newcastle Airport, however, Newcastle is a larger and more affluent market - with the two bases considered complementary to each other.

Following discussions with Loganair, the airline has confirmed plans to maintain two aircraft at Newcastle with its Teesside base not replacing Newcastle, but serving routes which are best suited to local demand. It is forecast that one of the Newcastle based aircraft will be used for scheduled flying and one for charter flying - which is a slight change compared to the pre-COVID situation.

Regarding scheduled flying, the airline is forecast to reinstate two Norwegian routes which have not operated in 2021 - Bergen and Stavanger, as well as maintaining flights to Exeter, Newquay and Southampton. Due to the decrease of scheduled flying, some routes will be based from alternative locations and further details will become apparent in due course.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and endemic, passengers flying domestically has been significantly reduced. With part of Loganair's network being business reliant, as well as the UK market becoming greener, the demand for travel is reduced and will continue to evolve. However, the charter market remains buoyant and focusing on this market allows a steady stream of income for carriers whilst offering different products for different markets to improve resilience.

Loganair like all carriers are evolving their presence in the aviation field as it becomes apparent where demand and profitability can be found. However, the airline have confirmed to me that they will retain their Newcastle base, which remains complementary to its existing Teesside operation. The airline is becoming a major presence in the UK regional connectivity market and it will be an interesting 2022 to see where the evolving market takes us.

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https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/travel-tourism/loganair-announce-flights-newcastle-airport-16887349.amp