In 2016 Newcastle Airport welcomed 1,216,624 passengers – the largest number of passengers ever to pass through the Airport in a calendar year. This figure represented a 5.5% growth for NSW’s second busiest airport when compared with 2015.
It is because of the travelling public who took up the increased capacity to and from Newcastle Airport by all airlines during the year that this growth was achieved.
Dr Peter Cock, CEO of Newcastle Airport, said that 2016 was an exceptional year for the Airport, punctuated by key achievements and milestones.
“We kicked off the year with an announcement from Virgin Australia that it intended to increase its number of flights into Newcastle Airport, and in a first, start overnighting aircraft at our port,” Peter said.
“This was followed by the best February the Airport had ever recorded and strong year-onyear passenger growth for the first quarter of 2016. “In July we saw the inaugural flight to Dubbo take off and in October, services to Coffs Harbour commenced.”
“It was also in October that the Airport recorded its best month ever. The consistent solid performance in the back half of the year was seen in December where a 7.4% year-on-year growth was recorded for the month.”
“We rounded out the year by being the first Australian airport to trial an ‘open to the surroundings’ body scanner. The timing of this trial was ideal as it coincided with the unprecedented number of flights to and from Newcastle Airport being provided by all airlines for the festive and summer period.”
Looking ahead into 2017 the airlines have added almost 40,000 extra seats to and from Newcastle for the Easter / school holiday / ANZAC Day period when compared with last year.
“In addition, our team is ambitious and hungry for success and is not leaving any stone unturned when it comes to delivering more flights and bringing international services to the region. Thank you to our community for using us more often; we can talk with the airlines within the knowledge that new routes will be supported.”
“When I took the reins of the Airport 18 months ago, I stated that I wanted to give the region an airport it deserves. Looking back on the achievements of the past year, I think we’re starting to deliver this vision,” Peter concluded.
