Doncaster Sheffield Airport closure: 11 amazing pictures of the Yorkshire airport's first day including the first ever flight

The airport, also known as Robin Hood Airport, is based in Finningley near Doncaster and was first opened to travellers on April 28, 2005, initially operated by Peel Airports, a division of The Peel Group. It is one of only two commercial international airports in Yorkshire, along with Leeds Bradford Airport.

During the First World War it was used as a base by the Royal Flying Corps and in the Second World War the airfield was mainly used for training purposes. At that time it served as a finishing school for new crews of the aircraft in Bomber Command.

Within its first year, Doncaster Sheffield Airport served 899,000 travellers almost making its target of at least a million of passengers, making it the 23rd largest airport in the UK at the time and by August 2007, the new airport had assisted 2.28 million passengers. The airport’s first commercial flight flew to Palma de Mallorca in Majorca and departed from Robin Hood Airport at 9.15am on April 28, 2005.

In 2016, the airport’s name was changed from Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield to Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA). In June 2022, Wizz Air announced that it would terminate the majority of its flights from the airport as the airport operators were ‘unable to guarantee the terms of its commercial agreement.

On September 26, it was announced that the airport would be closing; the last outbound flight took off at 10.55am on Saturday, October 29 for Katowice in Poland and the last arrival, from Hurghada in Egypt, landed at 9.15pm on Friday, November 4 with the terminal officially closing to passengers at 7am on Saturday, November 5. So let’s take a look at Doncaster Sheffield Airport’s first day.

It was announced on November 15, 2022 that the airport could re-open as early as next spring if a deal can be negotiated.