(27 Jul 2025, 11:13 am)L469 YVK wrote Seen Newcastle Airport's master plan for 2040 about improving the number of longer distance buses serving the Airport......so here's an idea:

- 727 - Durham - 21 route** to Birtley then non-stop via A1 & A696 to the airport.

** Not via Arnison Centre.

Could actually be a hit with international students & students from the South & West of England too.

I agree we need more services to the airport - mainly from locations without access to the the metro although it feels like you're on the metro for ages - I have done Airport to South Hylton and it felt like I was on it for about 5 years.



I take the 777/787 have had decent passenger numbers? - I've never actually seen the services.


----------


I can't ever remember, has there ever been a Airport service from Sunderland?

(27 Jul 2025, 11:32 am)Michael wrote I agree we need more services to the airport - mainly from locations without access to the the metro although it feels like you're on the metro for ages - I have done Airport to South Hylton and it felt like I was on it for about 5 years.



I take the 777/787 have had decent passenger numbers? - I've never actually seen the services.


----------


I can't ever remember, has there ever been a Airport service from Sunderland?

I'm not sure about the 777 / 787. But the a Durham - Airport link given Durham being a major North East City with a student population -  and also quite well populated 21 corridor, could make it a success.

Hourly 24/7 operation - could even operate the overnight services via Low Fell & Gateshead then re-join the A1 via the A184 to compensate for the lack of Metro connections via Gateshead at that time.

Fancy the challenge Dan?

Buses to the airport are stupid imo.

Realistically how many people a day from Durham are wanting a bus to the airport? The vast majority of people will drive or jump in a taxi as it's a once in a bluemoon trip and the £40 taxi is a drop in the ocean to the £2k spent on the holiday.

Either way jumping on a train for 15 minutes, then jumping on the Metro would be a hell of a lot quicker regardless.

(27 Jul 2025, 11:32 am)Michael wrote I agree we need more services to the airport - mainly from locations without access to the the metro although it feels like you're on the metro for ages - I have done Airport to South Hylton and it felt like I was on it for about 5 years.



I take the 777/787 have had decent passenger numbers? - I've never actually seen the services.


----------


I can't ever remember, has there ever been a Airport service from Sunderland?

I frequently (as in multiple times a week travel from Pallion to Regent Centre and honestly I sometimes alight in town just to break the journey or if I'm not in a rush I will walk to either the 56 (at Southwick) or the X24 (at Chester Road) just to break the journey...

But more importantly re. the 787;
I went to Switzerland in April so had to get a 4am National Express  (to Edinburgh) from St James Boulevard. I walked 10 mins to Stamfordham road in Westerhope to get the 787 (instead of nearly £30 in a taxi). To my delight, the bus was on time, clean, and not full of drunk people. To my surprise there was about 10 passengers on when I boarded, and throughout the journey to town I counted 20 people alighting/boarding. I was not in a rush so I decided to stay on until Newgate St instead of alighting at Central (being the closest bus stop to my destination) to see how many people boarded... When the other 787 passed me going the opposite way it was 10 mins delayed and quite busy.  I think there were 3 or 4 boarding to go back when I got off.

Due to being away I forgot to post this at the time, but I see that as a success and a potential for a proper night network re-try. 

It just goes to show the recent success of new services, such as Northstar's 599, X22, X43 & the 787/777 have been successful and if marketed and managed correctly will be successful in the future. 

Does anyone have any suggestions of routes that should be created to fill the gaps? (I am not interested in swapping routes around or vehicle allocations, so don't even start!)

(27 Jul 2025, 12:59 pm)Storx wrote Buses to the airport are stupid imo.

Realistically how many people a day from Durham are wanting a bus to the airport? The vast majority of people will drive or jump in a taxi as it's a once in a bluemoon trip and the £40 taxi is a drop in the ocean to the £2k spent on the holiday.

Either way jumping on a train for 15 minutes, then jumping on the Metro would be a hell of a lot quicker regardless.

So to Durham station means lugging bags to there. Then the whole faff of having to change from train to metro, then waiting for the metro and completing the journey.

I was in Bath last year and there was an AirLink to Bristol Airport - again quite a student and tourist orientated City.

The 2040 masterplan has said there needs to be more longer distance bus links to the airport. Links to the Airport aren't just about holidaymakers / travellers, but more so the local economy and job opportunities.

I do think a 727 from Durham to Birtley then straight via the A1 & A696 could be workable especially with a large student population.

(27 Jul 2025, 12:59 pm)Storx wrote Buses to the airport are stupid imo.

Realistically how many people a day from Durham are wanting a bus to the airport? The vast majority of people will drive or jump in a taxi as it's a once in a bluemoon trip and the £40 taxi is a drop in the ocean to the £2k spent on the holiday.

Either way jumping on a train for 15 minutes, then jumping on the Metro would be a hell of a lot quicker regardless.

Countless other cities have very well used airport bus services, are they all stupid?

Yes we have the Metro, but quite frankly it doesn't even serve half of Newcastle, let alone Durham and Northumberland. 

If the airport is to grow to the level that they wish, then improving public transport links should be prioritised. 

Not everyone is going to the airport for £2k holidays either, and a £2.50 bus fare is much easier to swallow than a £40 taxi - which in many instances will be more than the cost of the flight itself.

(27 Jul 2025, 2:08 pm)PH - BQA wrote Not everyone is going to the airport for £2k holidays either, and a £2.50 bus fare is much easier to swallow than a £40 taxi - which in many instances will be more than the cost of the flight itself.

Especially for students - and Durham is quite a student orientated City with a renowned University across the world.

(27 Jul 2025, 2:08 pm)PH - BQA wrote Countless other cities have very well used airport bus services, are they all stupid?

Yes we have the Metro, but quite frankly it doesn't even serve half of Newcastle, let alone Durham and Northumberland. 

If the airport is to grow to the level that they wish, then improving public transport links should be prioritised. 

Not everyone is going to the airport for £2k holidays either, and a £2.50 bus fare is much easier to swallow than a £40 taxi - which in many instances will be more than the cost of the flight itself.

Not sure other cities are comparable, where their airports are miles out of the town with large populations behind or parallel to the airport like Stockport etc which would involve a hell of a double back. 

Newcastle doesn't have this issue ie:


The interchanges might not be nice but almost all of County Durham and Northumberland either have a direct service to Gateshead, Park Lane / Sunderland or the Regent Centre which give a very fast link direct to the airport via the Metro. You could run a service from Durham to the airport but what's it going to save 5 minutes and it's going to be extremely infrequent

It's different to say Stockport:


which would involve a hell of a double back so the direct service makes sense and acts as it's own hub. 

The only bit which makes sense is the bit in pink, which should go to the Metrocentre in the other direction, but that's not a long distance service.  Some people really downvalue the links to the airport as imo, it's one of, if not the best in the country.

The fact the 342 was binned off by Nexus going to the airport, with absolutely no complaints, also sums up the demand for it and that's a subsidised service.

(27 Jul 2025, 5:26 pm)Storx wrote Not sure other cities are comparable, where their airports are miles out of the town with large populations behind or parallel to the airport like Stockport etc which would involve a hell of a double back. 

Newcastle doesn't have this issue ie:


The interchanges might not be nice but almost all of County Durham and Northumberland either have a direct service to Gateshead, Park Lane / Sunderland or the Regent Centre which give a very fast link direct to the airport via the Metro. You could run a service from Durham to the airport but what's it going to save 5 minutes and it's going to be extremely infrequent

It's different to say Stockport:


which would involve a hell of a double back so the direct service makes sense and acts as it's own hub. 

The only bit which makes sense is the bit in pink, which should go to the Metrocentre in the other direction, but that's not a long distance service.  Some people really downvalue the links to the airport as imo, it's one of, if not the best in the country.

The fact the 342 was binned off by Nexus going to the airport, with absolutely no complaints, also sums up the demand for it and that's a subsidised service.

See, I get what you're saying with the time differences - but it's the whole faff on having to change and unload / re-load cases especially if coming in from Durham, CLS & Birtley.

Literally, it would just be turn up at the bus stop, pay your £2.50, put cases on the luggage racks and chill until right outside the terminal.

The £2.50 fare would be extremely popular with students - not forgetting the overnight links for shift workers and employment.

(27 Jul 2025, 5:59 pm)L469 YVK wrote See, I get what you're saying with the time differences - but it's the whole faff on having to change and unload / re-load cases especially if coming in from Durham, CLS & Birtley.

Literally, it would just be turn up at the bus stop, pay your £2.50, put cases on the luggage racks and chill until right outside the terminal.

The £2.50 fare would be extremely popular with students - not forgetting the overnight links for shift workers and employment.

See I don't disagree per say, but surely a better option would be to extend the terminating National Express / Megabus / Flixbus services from Newcastle through to the airport instead?

Unsure what terminates here nowadays but I believe there's still a few about which do Durham, Sunderland, Middlesbrough en-route anyway.

(27 Jul 2025, 6:26 pm)Storx wrote See I don't disagree per say, but surely a better option would be to extend the terminating National Express / Megabus / Flixbus services from Newcastle through to the airport instead?

Unsure what terminates here nowadays but I believe there's still a few about which do Durham, Sunderland, Middlesbrough en-route anyway.

How regular are most of those though? They certainly aren't as frequent as you'd realistically need an airport service to be - the entire point of which would be to give people a reliable local service to the airport. 

Extending a few long distance coach services isn't something anyone can rely on really, your trip to the airport could be derailed by a road closure 200+ miles away.

(27 Jul 2025, 6:58 pm)PH - BQA wrote How regular are most of those though? They certainly aren't as frequent as you'd realistically need an airport service to be - the entire point of which would be to give people a reliable local service to the airport. 

Extending a few long distance coach services isn't something anyone can rely on really, your trip to the airport could be derailed by a road closure 200+ miles away.

Honestly, I really don't know. The sites are bloody awful it's virtually impossible to find what actually runs. Yeah true on the closures though, it's a funny one as I just can't see them working as the A1 is a right old bottleneck to the stage the quickest route for a bus is probably direct through Newcastle anyway using bus lanes and if you're doing that then it kind defeats the point?

(27 Jul 2025, 1:15 pm)logidoodah wrote I frequently (as in multiple times a week travel from Pallion to Regent Centre and honestly I sometimes alight in town just to break the journey or if I'm not in a rush I will walk to either the 56 (at Southwick) or the X24 (at Chester Road) just to break the journey...

But more importantly re. the 787;
I went to Switzerland in April so had to get a 4am National Express  (to Edinburgh) from St James Boulevard. I walked 10 mins to Stamfordham road in Westerhope to get the 787 (instead of nearly £30 in a taxi). To my delight, the bus was on time, clean, and not full of drunk people. To my surprise there was about 10 passengers on when I boarded, and throughout the journey to town I counted 20 people alighting/boarding. I was not in a rush so I decided to stay on until Newgate St instead of alighting at Central (being the closest bus stop to my destination) to see how many people boarded... When the other 787 passed me going the opposite way it was 10 mins delayed and quite busy.  I think there were 3 or 4 boarding to go back when I got off.

Due to being away I forgot to post this at the time, but I see that as a success and a potential for a proper night network re-try. 

It just goes to show the recent success of new services, such as Northstar's 599, X22, X43 & the 787/777 have been successful and if marketed and managed correctly will be successful in the future. 

Does anyone have any suggestions of routes that should be created to fill the gaps? (I am not interested in swapping routes around or vehicle allocations, so don't even start!)

Good to see it being used, hopefully means more runs added, as you said.