Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield

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Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield
IATA: DSA - ICAO: EGCN
Summary
Airport type public
Operator Peel Airports Plc
Serves [[Doncaster & Sheffield]]
Elevation AMSL 52 ft (16 m)
Coordinates 53° 29' N 1° 6' 23" W

Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield (IATA: DSA, ICAO: EGCN) is a new International Airport located at the former RAF Finningley base in Finningley, South Yorkshire. The airport lies six miles from Doncaster and eighteen miles from Sheffield. The Airport principally serves the Metropolitan conurbations of South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire moreover due to its key location, a population of several million citizens can access the Airport within a 60 minute drive.

The opening was marked by the first commercial flight from the airport, destined for Palma in Majorca, which departed exactly on time at 0915 on April 28, 2005. The Captain of the first flight from Robin Hood Airport was Paul Rafferty of Thomsonfly1. The airport is expected to see one million passengers by the end of 2005, three months after opening the airport had handled 300,000 passengers.

The majority of flights from the airport are operated by Thomsonfly, with a few flights operated by Thomas Cook, Pegasus, BH Air and Ryanair. From December 2005, easyjet will operate a daily service in and out of the airport to Geneva. Ryanair are rumoured to be making the airport a base and Continental Airlines are rumoured to be starting a service to New York next year.

As of yet the only cargo flights from the airport are to Dubai (twice weekly) operated by Jetset Cargo.

Although the airport lies alongside a railway line, a station is not planned as part of the initial development. Instead, public transport is by bus from Doncaster town centre. A motorway road link from the nearby M18 at junction 3 to the airport is planned and is expected to open by 20102. At present the airport is served by a various airport bus links from all major local bus companies. With the exception of the X19 service from Barnsley, and the 707 service from Doncaster railway station, all buses leave from the Doncaster Transport Interchange (previously the south bus station).

There have been public concerns about the naming of the airport3, and the lack of dedicated transport links to the site.

Contents

Robin Hood

It is hoped by some in Yorkshire and in Nottinghamshire that the name might be changed to something they consider to be more appropriate. For hundreds of years the Parish and Village of Finningley was located in Nottinghamshire. It was not until Government Administrative Boundary changes were made in 1974 that Finningley became part of Yorkshire. This is not unusual as many communities located in Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire close to the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster receive their post via Doncaster a name consequently reflected in their postcodes.

The Airport name was based on the following facts:-

1) The Airport has a historical reference to Nottinghamshire (see above) and still resides in the boundary of the Diocese of Nottingham. 2) Doncaster is closer to Sherwood Forest than Nottingham. 3) The forest of Sherwood in its original form extended north into this area of Yorkshire. 4) The name would provide an identity which would raise a lot of attention (if a little controversy) for the Airport and create a marketing opportunity.

The Airport name has caused media controvesy as Robin Hood has not normally or previously been associated with Doncaster. The citizens of Nottingham feel that Robin Hood should be the icon of their City alone. Perhaps their anger will be tempered by the knowledge that East Midlands Airport was re-branded as Nottingham East Midlands Airport during 2004 to address uncertainties revealed amongst travellers based abroad as to where the East Midlands were. Private pilots will be aware that Nottingham Airport in Tollerton remains operational, although it is unlikely ever to attract scheduled flights, being much smaller.

Vital Statistics

The airport's runway has a length of 2981 metres (9781 feet) and a width of 60 metres (197 feet), making it longer and wider than those at many other airports in northern Britain, including Leeds/Bradford Airport and Humberside Airport, its closest competitors. This capability may make the airport attractive to operators of wide-bodied, long-haul or older cargo-carrying aircraft. The reason the Airport has such a long runway stems from its history as a former long-range nuclear bomber base (see RAF Finningley. The Airport currently has a single runway coded 02/20 however there is significant room for further expansion should the market require. Operators Peel Holdings also own Liverpool John Lennon Airport on Merseyside.

Part of the Airport site is being developed into a Business and Technology Park which could potentially be linked with the M18 motorway via a link road at Junction 3. This in itself might attract further investment into the Region.

Destinations

The airport serves the following destinations:

Future Destinations

Notes

External links



Airports of the United Kingdom
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Blackpool | Bournemouth | Cambridge | Coventry | Humberside | Newquay | Plymouth City
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Northern Ireland: Belfast City | Belfast International | Derry
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