Success for airport as passenger figures rise

The year-on-year comparison shows that more than 96,000 people flew from the airport last month.

Airport director Mike Morton said: "The last few months have been an extremely tumultuous time for the aviation industry yet, despite the disruption caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland, we are delighted to report a significant increase in passengers when comparing May 2010 to May 2009.

"New routes with easyJet and Aer Lingus will have played a major role in this increase and we will be looking to build on these figures during the second half of 2010.

"Holidaymakers from across Yorkshire and the Humber, North Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire are realising how much easier it is to fly from their local airport and using Doncaster-Sheffield for their travel needs.

"We are now actively engaging with local businesses as our new routes open up the possibility of more corporate travel and we will continue to work with the community we serve."

New daily Aer Lingus flights to Dublin took off from Robin Hood Airport in March, while new Easyjet routes are also now travelling from Doncaster to Amsterdam, Prague, Barcelona, Faro and Majorca.

Mr Morton added: "Looking ahead, we have recently announced extra capacity from Thomson Airways for summer 2011 which is thanks to strong forward sales, and our team are currently working on finalising the programme for the winter of 2010-11.

"This is great news and it is very pleasing to see that our figures are rising."