Doncaster Sheffield Airport , formerly named and commonly referred to as Robin Hood Airport, is an unscheduled international airport closed to passenger traffic. The airport is located in Finningley near

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and metropolitan county, metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of City of Doncaster, Doncaster and City of Sh ...

, England. The site lies south-east of the centre of

and east of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

. It opened to passengers in 2005, operated by Peel Airports, a division of

The Peel Group The Peel Group is a British infrastructure and property investment business, based in Manchester. In 2022, its Peel Land and Property estate extends to of buildings, and over of land and water. Peel retains minority stakes in its former ports ...

. The closed airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction. It had 1.22 million passengers in 2018. The airport was one of two commercial international airports in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, along with Leeds Bradford Airport. The closure of Doncaster Sheffield Airport was announced in September 2022 after extensive reviews citing a lack of profitability. The last scheduled departure was on 29 October, with inbound flights continuing until 4 November 2022. On 2 November, the airport owner announced an acceptable offer of purchase had not been received, and the last passenger flight landed on 4 November.

History

1915–1995: RAF Finningley

The airport owes its origins to military aviation, having been founded as Finningley Airfield in 1915. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, it was used as a base by the Royal Flying Corps as they intercepted German

Zeppelins A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

targeting the industrial cities of the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

the airfield was used primarily for training purposes, serving as a finishing school for new crews of the larger aircraft in

Bomber Command Bomber Command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. The best known were in Britain and the United States. A Bomber Command is generally used for strategic bombing (although at times, e.g. during t ...

; only a few combat missions took off from Finningley. The Cold War saw the airfield's importance rise when it was used for nuclear-armed

Vulcan bomber The Avro Vulcan (later Hawker Siddeley Vulcan from July 1963) is a jet-powered, tailless, delta-wing, high-altitude, strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A.V. Roe and ...

s. Training once again became the priority in the 1970s and 1980s before the airport was decommissioned in 1995.

2005–2016: Robin Hood Airport

Following the ending of scheduled services from

Sheffield City Airport Sheffield City Airport was a small airport in Sheffield; it is now closed. It was in the Tinsley Park area of the city, near the M1 motorway and Sheffield Parkway, and opened in 1997. The airport's CAA licence was withdrawn on 21 April 2008 ...

, the former RAF Finningley was reopened as Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield (DSA) in April 2005, after low-cost flights and rising passenger demand made a new commercial airport feasible. The name of the airport was controversial with 11,000 people signing a petition to oppose it. The airport's first commercial flight flew to Palma de Mallorca in Majorca, departing at 09:15 on 28 April 2005. The airport was projected to serve at least a million passengers during 2006. The actual figure for its first year was 899,000, making the airport the 23rd largest in the UK. By August 2007, the new airport had handled 2.28 million passengers. Long haul flights to North America began in summer 2007, with Flyglobespan operating to Hamilton, Ontario (for Toronto), and

Thomsonfly Thomsonfly was a British charter and scheduled airline. Thomsonfly was the first stage of TUI AG's plans to expand its business within TUI UK prior to September 2007. After TUI UK merged with First Choice Holidays in September 2007, it beca ...

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

Cancún Cancún ( ), often Cancun in English (without the accent; or ) is a city in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat ...

and Puerto Plata. All these routes have since been discontinued. In 2007, over one million passengers used the airport, however, this had decreased to around 700,000 by 2012, before increasing again to 1.255 million in 2016. In December 2009,

EasyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airli ...

announced that from April 2010 it would operate flights from Doncaster to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Faro, Palma de Mallorca and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. These flights were expected to carry 300,000 passengers in the first year of operation. However, EasyJet withdrew all flights from the airport with effect from 4 January 2011. By 2010, the Peel Group was attempting to secure outside investment for Peel Airports. In June 2010, it was announced that Vantage Airport Group (formerly Vancouver Airport Services) had agreed to buy a 65% stake in Peel Airports, with Peel Group retaining the remaining 35%. However, following a significant decline in passenger numbers, Peel Airports sold Durham Tees Valley Airport back to Peel Group in February 2012. In the second half of 2012, monthly passenger numbers at Robin Hood fell significantly and in December 2012 it was announced that Robin Hood would also be sold back to Peel Group. As a result, by January 2013 only

Liverpool John Lennon Airport Liverpool John Lennon Airport is an international airport in Liverpool, England, on the estuary of the River Mersey south-east of Liverpool city centre. Scheduled domestic, European, North African and Middle Eastern services are operated ...

was still owned by Peel Airports, with Vantage Airport Group owning 65% of this company. At Durham Tees Valley Airport and Robin Hood Airport, Vantage's involvement had ended. Robin Hood Airport was once again wholly owned by the Peel Group, while at Durham Tees Valley Airport, Peel were majority shareholders, with local councils retaining a minority stake. In 2014, Peel took back full ownership of Liverpool John Lennon, bringing all of Peel's airports back into group ownership, with Liverpool retaining its own management structure separate to Doncaster and Durham. In September 2016, the airport signed a deal with Sheffield United Football Club. This resulted in Doncaster Sheffield Airport being the club's official air travel provider. To promote the partnership, a large advertisement has been displayed across one of the stands at Bramall Lane Stadium. As a method of increasing passenger numbers at the airport, the football club has also been giving away free flights to their fans. Since the new airport link road (''Great Yorkshire Way'') opened, which connects Parrots Corner to the M18's junction 3, Sheffield is only 30 minutes away by road which supports the partnership between the airport and the football club further.

2016–2022: Doncaster Sheffield Airport

In December 2016, the airport received an entirely new corporate design, including a change of name from Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield to Doncaster Sheffield Airport, with the Robin Hood title being downgraded to a less prominent graphic appendix. In September 2017, the airport entered a sponsorship deal with

Sheffield Arena Sheffield Arena, known for sponsorship purposes as Utilita Arena Sheffield, is a multi-purpose arena located in Sheffield, England. It is situated near Meadowhall and lies between Sheffield city centre and Rotherham town centre. Opened in 1991 ...

, giving it the new name of Fly DSA Arena. In April 2019, Flybe announced it would be closing its base at DSA, and remove all crew and aircraft from 26 October 2019. In August 2020,

Wizz Air UK Wizz Air UK Ltd. is a British airline and subsidiary of low-cost airline Wizz Air, using its corporate identity. Founded to enable Wizz Air to retain full UK market access post-Brexit, the airline operates flights from three bases in the UK. It ...

announced it would be opening its second UK base at the airport, basing one aircraft and opening seven new routes to add to its existing network of ten routes. In September 2020, Wizz Air UK further announced another six routes along with basing a second aircraft, increasing the size of the network to 25 routes.

Closure

In June 2022, Wizz Air announced it would terminate the majority of its flights from Doncaster/Sheffield, stating that the airport operators were "unable to guarantee the terms of its commercial agreement". This would leave

TUI Airways TUI Airways Limited (formerly Thomsonfly and Thomson Airways) is a British charter airline, offering scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom and Ireland to destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. The airline is t ...

as the airport's sole regular customer.aerotelegraph.com
(German) 28 September 2022 In July 2022 the airport's board said aviation activity at the site "may no longer be commercially viable" and that there would be a six-week consultation into the airport's future. Peel L&P stated the airport had "never achieved the critical mass required to become profitable". The closure proposal drew strong local reaction, with an on-line petition established by local interest group Yorkshire Plane Spotters citing concerns over the loss of local employment opportunities, to the overall detriment of the region. In late August 2022, the consultation period was extended until 16 September, with the result of the consultation announced on 26 September. On 26 September, it was announced the airport would start winding down activity from 31 October 2022, after 17 years of operation. The airport's sole based operator TUI operated its final flights on 4 November 2022. Wizz Air meanwhile announced it would transfer its Doncaster/Sheffield routes to Leeds Bradford Airport. They also operated the airport's final scheduled departure on 29 October 2022. Arrivals of inbound flights continued until 4 November 2022.

Post-closure

The local authority covering the airport, Doncaster Council, made an application for a judicial review in an attempt to question the legality of the closure process. However, the application was refused. Subsequently, the Mayor of Doncaster stated that the council was beginning the process of attempting to compulsorily purchase the airport and bring it into public ownership. As part of the process of winding down operations at the airport, air traffic control service was withdrawn on 3 December 2022. In addition, the UK Civil Aviation Authority began the formal process of downgrading the airspace surrounding the airport from controlled to uncontrolled, due to the expected decrease in large aircraft movements in the area following the closure of the airport.

Facilities

Runway and terminal building

Three Thomson Airways 737-800s Parked at Doncaster Terminal

The airport has a single runway designated 02/20, with dimensions of , making it longer and wider than those at many other airports in Northern England. This stems from the airport's history as a former long-range nuclear bomber base (

RAF Finningley Royal Air Force Finningley or RAF Finningley was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station at Finningley, in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The station straddled the historic county boundaries of both ...

). The runway is long enough that the airport was designated a Space Shuttle emergency landing site. The passenger terminal has 24 check-in desks, six departure gates and three baggage carousels.

Airport hotel and car parks

A Ramada Encore chain hotel opened on 10 November 2008, with a 102-bed capacity. It is situated less than ten minutes walk from the Terminal building. There are four on-site car parks at the airport: Short Stay, Long Stay, Premium Parking and Meet & Greet. All car parks are operated and managed by the airport and are all within walking distance of the terminal building.

Airport business park

Work is also progressing on a new business park across from the terminal, which will link to the access road into the airport. In March 2014 the site for the park became part of Sheffield City Region Enterprise Zone.

Hangar buildings

No. 3 Hangar is presently occupied by 2Excel Aviation providing Design, production and Maintenance services. Defence company BAE Systems formerly operated its Aircraft Maintenance Academy from No. 3 Hangar at the airport, before moving to

Humberside Airport Humberside Airport is an international airport at Kirmington in the Borough of North Lincolnshire, England, from three large settlements: Grimsby (east), Hull (north) and Scunthorpe (west), on the A18, the latter two places reached by lon ...

. Other companies that operate within the hangars include Bespoke Training Systems Limited, a

Cessna Citation The Cessna Citation is a family of business jets by Cessna that started in 1972 with the entry into service of the first model. In the fifty years following the 1969 first flight, more than 7,500 Citations were delivered, forming the largest b ...

service centre, and Anglo European Express (Doncaster) Ltd (onsite regulated agents for air freight and cargo operations).

Flight training

The airport is home to Yorkshire Aero Club who provide training for fixed wing aircraft and Hummingbird Helicopters who provide training for rotary wing aircraft. Yorkshire Aero Club and Hummingbird Helicopters provide introductory flying lessons and training towards the Private Pilot's Licence for aeroplanes and helicopters respectively.

Former airlines and destinations

As of 5 November 2022, there are no more regular commercial passenger airline services to/from Doncaster Sheffield Airport. The last scheduled flight departed Doncaster Sheffield on 29 October 2022, while inbound aircraft continued until 4 November 2022. The airport mainly featured year-round and seasonal flights to leisure destinations around the Mediterranean as well as to cities in Central and Southeastern Europe with

and Wizz Air being the primary tenants.

Statistics

Traffic statistics

Busiest routes

Vulcan XH558

In 2011, the Vulcan to the Sky Trust relocated

Avro Vulcan XH558 Avro Vulcan XH558 (United Kingdom military aircraft serials, military serial ''XH558'', civil aircraft registration ''G-VLCN'') ''Spirit of Great Britain'' was the last remaining airworthy example of the 134 Avro Vulcan jet-powered delta winged ...

to the airport, arriving from its former temporary winter base,

RAF Lyneham Royal Air Force Lyneham otherwise known as RAF Lyneham was a Royal Air Force station located northeast of Chippenham, Wiltshire, and southwest of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The station was the home of all the Lockheed C-130 Hercules transpor ...

, on 29 March. It was the last airworthy example of the Vulcan bomber fleet, restored to flight by the Trust in 2007. One of the reasons for the move to a commercial airport was to improve access for the public to see XH558 up close, something not possible while based at operational RAF bases. The move was deliberately not announced in advance, both to keep costs down at the not yet complete new base, and to not overshadow ongoing repatriation flights of Britain's war casualties to Lyneham from Afghanistan."Welcome Home - Vulcan XH558 returns to Doncaster".
''Global Aviation Resource'', 5 April 2011. The airport remained XH558's home base until its final flight, a display over the airport, on 28 October 2015. With XH558 now permanently grounded, the Trust intended to remain at Doncaster Sheffield Airport, and make the Vulcan the focus of a new educational and heritage facility, the first stage being to establish the Vulcan Aviation Academy & Heritage Centre. Before 2022, the plan was to feature an academy building for 14-18 year olds, with the Vulcan housed in an adjacent heritage centre, where it would be maintained so as to be able to perform regular fast taxi runs, the frequency of which would be funding dependent.
''Vulcan To The Sky'', 25 November 2015. However, on 15 August 2022, the Vulcan to the Sky Trust announced that it would be forced to leave the airport. Its fundraising efforts had proven unsuccessful, and even prior to the announcement concerning the airport's own future, the Trust had been informed its lease at the site would not be renewed beyond June 2023. At the time of the announcement, the decision regarding XH558's new home, and the means of its journey there, hadn't been finalised, but the trust was exploring the potential option of the aircraft flying for one last time when it finally leaves the airport. This was deemed too expensive and XH558 will likely be dismantled and moved to a new home by road.

Ground transport

Road

The airport is located close to the M18 motorway; a road link from Junction 3 of the M18 to Parrot's Corner (junction of the A638 and the B6463) was opened on 29 February 2016 before being extended to the airport on 15 June 2018. Part of the Finningley and Rossington Regeneration Route Scheme, the road is called the Great Yorkshire Way, and is a continuation of the A6182 road from Doncaster town centre. In addition the M18 has been widened to three lanes northbound from junction 2 (for the A1(M)) to Junction 3. Also nearby are the A1(M) and the M180. Taxis are available directly outside the terminal building. These are operated by the airports official partner Little Arrow Taxis.

Bus

There are regular

First South Yorkshire First South Yorkshire is a major bus operator providing bus services within and across South Yorkshire. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. History In 1989, South Yorkshire Transport introduced the ''Mainline'' brand on certain bus routes aro ...

bus services directly linking the airport with Frenchgate Interchange. The 57a and 57c bus services link the airport with Doncaster town centre calling at a number of local areas along the journey before arriving at Doncaster Frenchgate Interchange.

Rail

Doncaster railway station Doncaster railway station is on the East Coast Main Line in England, serving the city of Doncaster, South Yorkshire. It is down the line from and is situated between and on the main line. It is managed by London North Eastern Railway. ...

, located on the East Coast Main Line, is from the airport and is adjacent to the Frenchgate Interchange. In addition, the airport lies alongside the Doncaster to Lincoln railway line, and plans for a station at Finningley to replace the station that closed in 1961 were granted planning permission in 2008. However, a 2012 report by

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

stated that more trains on the line would be required to make the station viable. There have also been plans to connect the airport to the East Coast Main Line with a dedicated rail link.

Accidents and incidents

* On 15 August 2014, a Links Air flight from

Belfast City Airport George Best Belfast City Airport is a single-runway airport in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated in County Down, it is adjacent to the Port of Belfast and is from Belfast City Centre. It shares the site with the Spirit AeroSystems (form ...

, operated by G-GAVA, crashed on landing at the airport following a landing gear failure which caused substantial damage to the aircraft. One passenger was taken to hospital with minor injuries. The airport was closed for several hours.

In media

During its first few years of operation, the airport has featured in the media; in particular, numerous articles on its status as the UK's newest international airport have seen it become part of the debate on air tourism and environmental issues. On 24 January 2007, the airport featured in the BBC Two documentary ''Should I Really Give Up Flying?'', with Doncaster actor

Brian Blessed Brian Blessed (; born 9 October 1936) is an English actor, presenter, writer and mountaineer. Blessed is known for portraying PC "Fancy" Smith in ''Z-Cars'', Augustus in the 1976 BBC television production of '' I, Claudius'', King Richard I ...

fronting local opinions on the issue. * The airport has also been a filming location for popular television series such as ITV's ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, ...

'',

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

drama '' Hustle'', and '' In the Club''. * The airport was a filming location for Film4 Productions film ''

Four Lions ''Four Lions'' (originally titled ''We Are Four Lions'') is a 2010 British political satire black comedy film directed by Chris Morris (in his directorial debut) and written by Morris, Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong. The film, a jihad satire foll ...

''. * The airport was one of the settings for the BBC

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

'' Come Fly with Me''.

Matt Lucas Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series ''Little Britain'' (2003–2006, 2020) and '' Come Fl ...

and

David Walliams David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series ''Little Br ...

spent two weeks at the airport filming. The programme aired from Christmas 2010 through January 2011. * The airport (or at that time

) had several appearances in the 1984

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...