How many hours before flight do you get to airport?

[railsfall]

We are travelling to Spain in July
We are flying with jet 2 and doing twilight check in
So we just head straight to security on the morning
It's a flight at 8.30 am
I'm thinking 6 am
Partner says 7 am
We are staying at the airport hotel which is 5 min walk to terminal

3 hours in school holidays 😬
2 hours if no luggage and term time.

2 hours if no bags to drop, 2.5 for short haul with bags, 3 for long haul.

Usually aim for 2 hours because once through if we have dc with us we will have something to eat and do a bit of shopping. Without the dc we find the lounge or bar for a few pre flight drinks and probably still a bit of shopping - for some reason dh always wants a new toothbrush for holiday. I always treat myself to new sunglasses. I know who comes out of this best 😂 especially as he usually pays!

No luggage and already checked in? 7:30 and get more sleep. If no checked luggage I do 1hr for short haul and 1.5-2hrs long haul. Normally through Heathrow. I strongly dislike airports and want to minimise my time at them.

I don't know Newcastle. Our local airport is never more than 10 minutes or so to get through security, so for us 2 hrs is plenty. Arrival 1.30 before the flight should be fine but we have to travel to the airport so I aim for 2 hrs to allow for traffic.

However small the airport, and however nearby you are, things can always go wrong.
Go at whatever time the airline (not randoms on the internet or family members) tell you.
I imagine it's 2 hours beforehand as with most airlines.

Small airport and short haul? 2 hours max.

We're flying from Birmingham in a couple of weeks and the current advice there is at least three hours before because of the horrendous queuing outside to even get into the terminal building

About 10 but that's because I'm a plane-spotter.

@FreightTrain I always stick with a Greggs breakfast
There's a new place opened in there and they are charging over £18 for a cooked breakfast

I checked and between 7-9 there's 13 flights
Around our flight time there's 6 flights

I hate silly o clock flights and they usually mean long queues as that's when all the budget airlines fly to the main holiday destinations. We've been very fortunate this year so far as we managed to get nicer flight times like 10.45, 9.30 etc and our flight to Lanzarote at the end of the year is midday which prevents me worrying about early morning ice and frosts etc. We tend to get to the airport about 1.45 mins before the flight, especially if we have no hold luggage to check in.
Flew Bristol to Nice on Weds, bit worried security might be be bad but it was the fastest I've ever been through.

I'd be around the 6am mark, can relax a little more once I'm past check in and security, can get breakfast and stretch my legs

This!!

Small regional airport, bags checked in and a 5 minute walk to the terminal. I'm with your partner, 7am earliest! Get some sleep, that's the point of an airport hotel, surely? Also if your bags are checked in and loaded, the plane is going to give you max time to get there (it would take more time to locate and offload your bags than just wait 5 minutes).

I never get to an airport earlier than 2 hours before even for an international flight. But I hate airports. My dream scenario is getting to the gate just as boarding ends. Perfect. (Drives my DH nuts.)

The website for our airport has a live security-time tracker. I couldn't see such a thing for Newcastle, but for other people it's worth looking for. Obviously this can change by the time you get to the airport, but hopefully not by too much, and for an upcoming early flight you could see what the typical wait is like at that time of day.

Buy a fast track if you can. £5 each.