By August 2007 the new airport had handled 2.28 million passengers. The actual figure for its first year was 899,000, making the airport the 23rd largest in the UK. The airport was projected to serve at least a million passengers during 2006. The airport's first commercial flight flew to Palma de Mallorca in Majorca, departing at 0915 on 28 April 2005. The name of the airport was controversial with 11,000 people signing a petition to oppose it. 2005–2016: Robin Hood įollowing the ending of scheduled services from Sheffield City Airport, 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. Training once again became the priority in the 1970s and 1980s before the airport was decommissioned in 1995.
The Cold War saw the airfield's importance rise when it was used for nuclear-armed Vulcan bombers. In the Second World War the airfield was used primarily for training purposes, serving as a finishing school for new crews of the larger aircraft in Bomber Command only a few combat missions took off from Finningley. The airport owes its origins to military aviation, having been founded as Finningley Airfield in 1915.ĭuring the First World War, it was used as a base by the Royal Flying Corps as they intercepted German Zeppelins targeting the industrial cities of the North. In July 2022 the airport's board stated that "aviation activity on the site may no longer be commercially viable" with a consultation period determining that commercial flying from the airport will cease as of the 30th September 2022. Doncaster Sheffield Airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction. It was initially operated by Peel Airports, a division of The Peel Group. The airport opened to passengers in 2005. Handling 1.22 million passengers in 2018, the airport is one of two commercial international airports in Yorkshire, along with Leeds Bradford Airport. The airport lies 6 mi (10 km) south-east of the centre of Doncaster and 19 mi (31 km) east of Sheffield. Statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority ĭoncaster Sheffield Airport ( IATA: DSA, ICAO: EGCN), formerly named and commonly referred to as Robin Hood Airport, is an international airport in Finningley, near Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England.