(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.