Newcastle Airport has been named UK and Irish Airport of the Year at the 2024 Travel Industry Awards.

The airport was recognised for its 'exceptional customer service, operational excellence, and commitment to supporting trade partners'.

The award, organised by the long-standing national trade magazine Travel Trade Gazette (TTG), is voted for by leaders from across the tourism industry.

Nick Jones, chief executive at Newcastle Airport, said: "We are delighted to be named UK and Irish Airport of the Year by the Travel Trade Gazette.

"This is a tremendous achievement for our entire team and partners, who work tirelessly to ensure we continue to deliver a world-class experience for our passengers and maintain the highest standards across all areas of our business."

The airport was praised for its 'industry-leading security queue times', ranking in the top three of all UK airports for on-time performance in 2023, and its efforts to support passengers with disabilities and promote equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace.

This recognition comes after the airport recently invested more than £20 million in its terminal to improve the overall passenger experience.

This included the redevelopment of the security search area and the implementation of security scanners, with 98 per cent of passengers passing through security in under 10 minutes year-to-date.

The airport fully refurbished all of the catering outlets in the departure lounge and also opened Aspire’s first three-tier lounge product, a world first for lounge provider Aspire.

The airport’s customer satisfaction scores continue to be some of the highest on record and its passenger assistance team was recently given the top rating of ‘very good’ in the CAA accessibility audit.

A 2023 study estimated the airport supports nearly £1 billion in GVA and around 13,350 jobs in north east England.

This winter will see another £20 million of investment.

A £17 million project to resurface its 2,300m runway and adjoining taxiways will commence in November, which will be the largest capital investment project in the airport’s history.

A further £3 million will be invested in additional improvements to the departure lounge experience and retail outlets.