The Department for Transport (DfT) has kicked off its Northern Powerhouse International Week with a visit to Newcastle International Airport from aviation minister Baroness Sugg to celebrate 10-year-high in passenger numbers.
The airport has enjoyed its best start to a year since 2008, with more than 283,000 passengers passing through its terminal in January.
Baroness Sugg called the airport one of the North East’s 'great success stories'. DfT officials highlighted that the rise comes on the back of a series of extra routes opening up at the airport in the past year, with new flights to a number of destinations including Egypt, Tunisia and Iceland.
The DfT also stated that the airport 'supports more than 19,000 jobs with 4,500 of those on site and serves a catchment area which contributes more than £1.6bn to the regional economy every year'.
Baroness Sugg said: 'We are determined to help boost productivity in the region even further, starting with the significant investment we’re making in transport infrastructure to improve connections between the north’s towns, cities and counties.
'As passenger numbers grow, the need for better connectivity increases and the Government is responding with more than £13bn worth of investment in transport across the north through to 2021.
'And with multiple daily flights from Newcastle to Heathrow, the region is also in line to benefit from an expanded Heathrow, with the potential for new jobs and business opportunities.'
The airport has also become an official Northern Powerhouse Partner and will work to promote the Government's agenda in the North in four key areas - connectivity and transport, skills, science and innovation, quality of life and culture, and devolution.
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