The Airport first opened on the 26th of July, 1935 with grass runway, clubhouse, hangar, workshop and  garage and by the 1950's had started taking passengers on package holidays to exotic places such as Isle of Man, Isle of Wight and the channels Islands. During the 1960's the demand for holiday packages increased and the airport catered to this by adding a new runway Apron and control tower.

One of Newcastle Airport biggest changes occurred during the 1970's when government announced that the airport status was now a regional international airport. this allowed the planes to fly to the US and Airport passenger number increased dramatically to 700,000 a year. In 1980 the target of 1,000,000 passengers a year was reached and the redevelopment was completed which included more efficient check-in desks, new lounges, duty free shops, and catering facilities.
The 1990's saw significant improvement to the accessibility of the airport with the opening of the Metro system in 1991 which linked the airport directly to Newcastle city centre and surrounding districts. The airport continued to grow even through the recession and by 1993 passenger numbers were up to 2million a year. This sparked further redevelopment with the terminal building being extended and modernised completed in May 1994.
Passenger number continued to increase and by the year 2000 it had jumped to 3 million a year and the extension to the terminal that doubled the size of the check in area. During 2003 Easy Jet arrived offering many low cost destination from Newcastle and prompted a new era of low cost flying from Newcastle. In 2003 the marketing for the "Newcastle International Airport" was launched although it had been an international airport for many years. By the end of 2003 passenger numbers had rose to 3.9 million, a new record. In 2004 the new departure lounge extension was opened which had also doubled its size and provided travellers a lot more option in the form of more shops and places to eat and drink.

2005 saw the airport rise to the fastest growing regional airport and passemger numbers reached 5 million and offering 86 destinations to choose from.

In September 2007 Emirates Airline launched a daily route from Newcastle to Dubia which allowed an additional 50 connecting destination be added, this became the top performing new route in the UK.
September 2007 also saw the new cutting edge 45 metres tall traffic control tower opened,named Emirates Tower and stands at over twice the height of the Angel of the North