Five years after closing its base at Newcastle Airport, Britain’s largest budget airline, easyJet, has announced plans to reopen the site for summer 2026 operations.
Newcastle was previously a key UK base for Go, British Airways’ short-lived budget airline that was later acquired by easyJet. The airline shut down its Newcastle base in August 2020 alongside closures at East Midlands and Southend airports. While easyJet resumed operations at Southend earlier this year, it has continued flying to and from Newcastle via other hubs including Bristol, Belfast International, Geneva, Palma, and Paris.
The new Newcastle base will house three aircraft and is scheduled to open in March 2026, creating approximately 130 jobs for pilots, cabin crew, and engineers.
Though specific routes have yet to be announced, they are expected to focus on popular sunshine destinations such as Portugal, the Canary Islands, Greek islands, Turkey, as well as select city routes. Newcastle Airport already sees strong competition from airlines like Jet2 and Ryanair.
Nick Jones, Chief Executive of Newcastle Airport, welcomed the reopening: “It is fantastic that easyJet has chosen to open a new base at Newcastle Airport in spring 2026 following strong demand for flights and package holidays from our passengers. This investment will not only offer greater connectivity with new routes but will also deliver hundreds of thousands of additional low-cost seats and package holidays. It will significantly boost the local economy by creating high-quality jobs and attracting more inbound visitors to the region.”
Easy Jet Chief Executive Kenton Jarvis added: “This move consolidates our position as the UK’s largest leisure airline and will create many skilled jobs, providing critical connectivity for the region. Holidays are increasingly important to UK consumers, and with our unrivalled short-haul network and easyJet holidays, we can offer greater choice and value for money, making travel easier for customers in the North East and beyond.”
Jarvis also commented on easyJet’s recent half-year results, reporting a headline loss before tax for winter of £394 million, which aligns with analyst expectations. “We remain focused on delivering another record summer this year, aiming to drive strong earnings growth and progress towards sustainably generating over £1 billion of annual profit before tax,” he said.
To prepare for the busy summer period, easyJet has implemented additional resilience measures to manage rising air traffic control delays.
