AHEAD of direct, non-stop flights from the North-East to New York Business Editor Andy Richardson spoke to United Airlines about why they decided to invest in our region.

TOURISM and investment chiefs are promoting the North-East in the US ahead of flights starting between Newcastle and New York this May.

United Airlines new service is being introduced on a trial basis that airport chiefs hope will become a permanent arrangement.

To ensure that the venture takes off, a promotional push on both sides of the Atlantic is being planned. United Airlines Bob Schumacher and his sales team have been in talks with VisitBritain and VisitEngland to help whet the appetites of American tourists with a taste of what they can expect from a trip to the region.

"The North-East is a stunning area with beautiful countryside and so many historic sites, castles, places of interest - the kind of things that American tourists love," Mr Schumacher told The Northern Echo.

The airline spent more than a year pouring over figures, talking to North-East businesses and airport bosses to gauge if the economy in the region had recovered sufficiently from the downturn.

"We got a great buzz from the area. Newcastle has been our sights for some time.

"As an airline we are dipping our toe in the water after what has been a very rough time for the UK economy, and indeed the Western world," said Mr Schumacher, the airline's managing director of International Sales, UK & Ireland. "We were looking at

this as far back as 2005/6 but then the global downturn hit us and we shelved plans for Newcastle. The macroeconomic situation has improved so it came back on the agenda.

“This will be United’s seventh airport in the UK after London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Belfast and Edinburgh to offer a New York flight. It is fair to say that Newcastle was a missing link for us. It is a sign of our confidence in Newcastle and the North-East that we made this move.

“We are a business and we need this to be a successful, profitable route. We did our homework. All of the indications suggest this will a success for us, but we will review things at the end of the season to decide what we do going forward. The number of bookings we have had so far is very encouraging. We very much hope that this becomes a long term arrangement. That is the plan,” explained Mr Schumaker, who described what passengers can expect when they touch down at Newark Liberty International.

"You can take a train from the airport and be at Penn Station within 25 minutes and then you have the centre of New York at your fingertips. As a destination for business and leisure travel it is pretty much peerless.

"The fact that it is non-stop is a key selling point. It means you can arrive in New York at lunchtime. There is no messing about with connections.

“It also means that passengers from the North-East will be able to make 300 connections from New York, 100 of them non-stop

to US cities such as Las Vegas, Houston, as well as destinations in Central and South America and the Caribbean."

The flights, on Boeing 757-200 aircraft, will start on Saturday, May 23 until September 7, and run daily, except Wednesday and Thursday, to the States, and Tuesday and Wednesday back across the Atlantic, with the outbound flight leaving Newcastle at 9.10am heading for Newark airport, near New York.

The return flight will leave Newark at 7.20pm and arrive seven hours, 10 minutes, later at 7.30am.

Each flight will offer 108 economy seats, priced from £549, with 45 Economy Plus seats offering 5in more leg room, and 16 “BusinessFirst” seats, which turn into a 6ft flat bed for sleeping, starting at £2,657.

For more information and to book flights visit united.com or call 0845 6076760.

In the meantime, Newcastle Airport is pressing ahead with its £14m departure lounge development, with a host of new retail outlets and restaurants now open for passengers.

The latest phase of the works sees new restaurant, The Cabin open its doors alongside retail outlets Traveller, Cuba Lily, Travelex and WH Smith. It follows last year's opening of The Beer House, Flying Hippo and Aspire Lounge.

The airport, which aims to be the most welcoming in the UK, formally outlined its plans to reshape the airside experience for passengers in 2014.

The works, which will see the entire departure lounge transform will be completed this summer. As well as offering new shops, restaurants, cafes and bar areas, the departure lounge layout will provide a more straightforward journey for customers.

Highlights still to come include a new walk-through World Duty Free store and food and beverage outlets.