Business passengers return to Newcastle Airport
07.12.10
An airline using Newcastle Airport believes business travel in the region could return to pre-recession highs by the end of the year, the Journal reports. Following a fall-off in corporate passengers last year Lufthansa, one of the main business airlines from Newcastle Airport, says it will be back to 2008 levels of business by the new year.
Lufthansa general manager for the UK and Ireland Marianne Sammann told The Journal year-on-year performance is up 27%. The year-on-year performance for October alone saw an increase of 65%. The improvements followed a 17% downturn in passenger numbers for 2009, compared with 2008.
Ms Sammann said: ‘After a very difficult year in 2009 we have seen a fantastic increase in our passenger figures. If we make a forecast for the whole year, then we have to say it has been about catch-up for the last two years. But it is very likely we will be back at 2008 figures by the end of the year, which is not what we expected at the start of the year. Business travel has definitely come back, with lots of travel between Newcastle and the industrial area in the north of Germany.’
She added that she believes the upturn in figures was true for other corporate carriers operating routes from Newcastle Airport.
