WATCH as TV Presenters Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly take their new roles as 'Happiness Ambassadors' seriously as they check-in holidaymakers at Newcastle Airport.

The duo filmed the surprises earlier this year and was seen as a great way to start a holiday.

 

Josh Bond, 18, is from Prudhoe and was one of the guest who was checked-in by the Geordie duo before he jetting off on his first lads' holiday.

"Me and my friend Louie arrived later than the rest of our friends and they were in a separate TUI queue to all the other check-ins, they had a separate queue maid," He said.

"We were told we had to go into a separate queue and when we asked why, we were told 'two famous people from Newcastle want to check you in'." 

"I thought it would be Jimmy Nail and Gazza, and out of nowhere, Ant and Dec come stumbling along. Everybody was ecstatic, they were just buzzing to see them. They are local heroes."

"They gave us free Greggs, I got some pineapple sunglasses which I'm quite happy about and a free inflatable. They're just the most relatable people I've ever met, they're just lovely people."

Josh said the experience of Ant and Dec checking him and his friends in for their first holiday together was 'quite a special moment'.

Josh explained other 'model groups' were also interviewed, including those on a girls' holiday, a mother and a son and a full family.

Leon McQuaid, Director of Aviation Development said: "It was a pleasure to welcome Ant and Dec to the Airport as part of their new roles as TUI Happiness Ambassadors recently. "Our teams across the Airport work exceptionally hard to ensure all of our passengers have the best possible experience, and we were delighted to be joined by the Geordie duo who did a fantastic job surprising passengers with a very memorable start to their holiday!

"This summer, the North East travelling public can choose from over 25 destinations from Newcastle with TUI including direct flights to Mexico and Florida on the airline’s state-of-the-art Dreamliner. November sees the introduction of two new exciting year-round destinations, Sal in Cape Verde and Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt, and 2024, which is now on sale, offers even more choice as TUI operate their largest ever programme from Newcastle offering over 30 destinations across 13 countries."