Airport Parking News

www.PArctel.com: Flyglobespan today operated its first ever flight into the Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire region as it officially commenced a new weekly scheduled service between Canada and Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield.

The weekly service to Toronto’s Hamilton International airport is Flyglobespan’s first destination to operate to and from Robin Hood Airport.

Passengers on the inaugural flight were treated to the Airport's usual hospitality with complimentary refreshments laid on ahead of the departure of the midday flight to Toronto (Hamilton). Glen & Elaine Ward of Doncaster were the first passengers to check in for today’s flight. Like for many people living in the Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire & Lincolnshire regions, Canada just got a whole lot closer.

Mr & Mrs Ward were travelling to Toronto to visit their daughter and grandchildren, who live in the South West Ontario region. The couple explained how they have previously had to endure a frustrating journey across the Pennines to catch a flight to Canada.

Mrs Ward said:
“We’re so pleased that the journey to Canada is now so easy. We booked online and saved a fortune. Robin Hood Airport has obviously listened to what passengers want - this route is going to be very popular!”

Nick & Louise Stanley and their son Shay were also on this inaugural flight.

Mrs Stanley said:
“Not only are we playing our part in the history of the airport, this is my first ever flight and my 28th birthday, I don’t think we could be any more excited!”

David Ryall, Managing Director at Robin Hood Airport spoke from the busy departure lounge this morning:
“I am really pleased to see so many passengers on the first ever scheduled flight to Canada. Robin Hood Airport is the only airport serving Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire & Lincolnshire to have direct flights to Canada, and we hope to see many more Flyglobespan routes over the coming months.”

David Ryall continued, delighting at the fact that Flyglobespan chose Robin Hood Airport as the setting for the official commencement of the Summer 2008 Canada programme:
“The first transatlantic scheduled flight to land in Hamilton airport in almost 20 years will be from Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield. That’s something for both airports to be proud of.”

Tom Dalrymple, Chief Executive of Flyglobespan said this week:
“Advance bookings have been encouraging since we first announced the route and I am sure that interest will increase now we are actually flying.”

Flights to Toronto (Hamilton) Airport will operate every Tuesday. Bookings can be made via www.flyglobespan.com

www.Parctel.com: International stars Brian Blessed and Sean Bean have been back to their Yorkshire roots to unveil a statue of fellow great British icon, Robin Hood at Britain’s newest Airport.

In a celebratory event to mark the success of Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield since it launched in 2005, the homegrown stars (Brian is from Doncaster and Sean from Sheffield) revealed the 10ft bronze statue at an official ceremony at the Airport on Wednesday (28 February 2007).

Sculpted by bronze specialist Neale Andrew, the statue is situated on the first floor for all passengers travelling through the Airport to see.

David Ryall, managing director, Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield said:
“Both Sean and Brian are proud of their Yorkshire roots and remain committed to the ongoing development of the region, so we were delighted that they were able to mark this occasion with us.”

Since opening in 2005, the Airport (part of the Peel Airports Group) has welcomed 1.68 million passengers through its doors. Serving a huge catchment area, including Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, North Nottinghamshire and further afield, Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield has opened the region to new inbound tourists and business travellers from across the globe.

Neil Pakey, chief executive of Robin Hood Airport’s operators Peel Airports Group said:
“When we were choosing the name of the airport, we were amazed to learn of the real Robin Hood story and of how the band of outlaws first laid siege to the castles of Yorkshire before moving into North Nottinghamshire. The work of historian David Greenwood deserves great attention and the airport site is truly the epicentre of all things Robin Hood”.

Neil continued, “The statue, based on paintings from the time now adorning the walls of the church of St Peter and St Paul’s in Pickering, North Yorkshire, is as close as you can get to how Robin appeared at the time. We are delighted the image of how Robin Hood appeared is now available for all to see here at Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield”.

Having started out with just a handful of operators – Thomsonfly and Ryanair being the largest – the airport now plays host to numerous operators, flying to 45 destinations, with new and exciting long haul destinations being added on a regular basis. Later this year, new routes to Canada and Pakistan will open.

Terry Hodgkinson, chair of Yorkshire Forward said:
“With the second longest runway in the North of England, Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield is a key addition to the region’s transport offering, bringing the number of international airports in the region to three. The regional economy is worth £75 billion, demonstrating the region’s capacity for global business and highlighting that with its geographical location at the centre of the UK, its ports network and international airports, Yorkshire and Humber is the ideal location for global business.”

Robin Hood Airport is committed to being a responsible airport and in conjunction with South Yorkshire Forest gives passengers the opportunity to contribute to their local environment and take a step towards offsetting the carbon emissions from their flight.

The new initiative known as ‘Last Call!’ provides passengers with the opportunity to contribute to their local environment before or after taking a flight from Robin Hood Airport by helping to plant trees in the nearby South Yorkshire Forest.

Peel is the first Airport group to take on a carbon emissions offsetting scheme of this scale.

ROBIN Hood Airport came to the rescue of British passengers in distress as snow falls affected flights across the country.

The Finningley-based airport was put on snow alert with emergency teams on standby to clear the runway if Doncaster experienced serious snow falls.

And the airport lived up to its legendary name by swinging into action as an emergency destination for hundreds of travellers who had been due to land in Luton.

The Bedfordshire airport was closed on Thursday last week because of the snow that had built up on its runway.

Steve Adamson, product development and communications manager at Doncaster airport, said flights arrived and departed as normal as Robin Hood escaped the heavy snow falls of last week. He said: "All flights have arrived and departed on schedule. We welcomed a diverted flight bound for London Luton Airport Thursday morning, due to a number of airports in the south being closed due to heavy snow fall."

The flight had been returning to England from Katowice in Poland.
Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Stanstead and Luton all fell victim to the weather in the last week and were forced to close their runways.

Source: Doncaster Today

Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield (IATA: DSA, ICAO: EGCN) is an international airport located at the former RAF Finningley airbase in Finningley, South Yorkshire, England. The airport lies 6 nautical miles southeast of Doncaster and eighteen miles from Sheffield. The Airport principally serves the metropolitan counties of South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire moreover due to its key location, a population of more than six million potential customers 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 at least one million passengers during 2006. Three months after opening the airport had handled 300,000 passengers, by December 2005 the figure rose to 500,000 and within the first year had risen to 900,000 passengers. 60 weeks after opening, the airport had handled over 1 million passengers.

Doncaster Sheffield Airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P876) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.

The majority of flights from the airport are operated by Thomsonfly, with a few flights operated by Thomas Cook, Pegasus, Air Europa, BH Air, Wizzair, Flybe, Flyglobespan, Onur Air and Ryanair. On 28th March 2006 Ryanair announced an expansion of their services from Doncaster, with additional flights to Pisa and Girona. On 26th June 2006, Flybe announced it was establishing a twice daily service from Doncaster to Belfast City Airport from October 2006. In September 2006, Flyglobespan announced that from Summer 2007, weekly flights from Doncaster would commence to Toronto, Canada, this being the first scheduled long-haul destination served from Doncaster. It was also announced at a Dubai conference on 18th September 2006 that Pakistani Airline Shaheen Air International will be flying from Doncaster Sheffield to Islamabad and Toronto from Summer 2007. Also Wizzair have annouced they are to start a four times weekly service to Gdansk and increase the frequency of the Katowice route to four times weekly both from July 2007. Late November Goldtrail Holidays announced that they would be flying to Dalaman from the Airport Summer 2007 using Onur Air.

History

Facilities

The airport's runway has a length of 2,891 metres (9,485 feet) and a width of 60 metres (197 feet), making it longer and wider than those at many other airports in northern Britain. 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 designated 02/20 and there is significant room for further passenger and cargo capacity expansion when the market requires. Operators Peel Holdings also own Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Durham Tees Valley Airport.

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.

Due to open in late summer 2007 is a Ramada Encore chain hotel, which will have 150 bed capacity. Work is also progressing on a new 62 acre business park across from the terminal, which will link to a new access road into the airport via nearby Hurst Lane.

At the airport

Landside (Check in Hall/Airivals Hall/Observation Lounge)

* SPAR
* Costa Coffee
* Serendipity Games
* Wetherspoons
* Travelex
* Foodhall
* World News
* Car Hire ~ Europcar/Enterprise/Hertz
* Taxi Rank
* Information Desk

Airside (Departure Lounge)

* Costa Coffee
* Duty & Tax Free Shopping - Alpha
* Bar 08
* World News
* Serendipity Games
* Restaurant 08

Getting to Robin Hood Airport

Road and Motorway Links

The Airport is located close to the M18 Motorway, but with no direct link road. Also nearby are the A1(M) Motorway, M62 motorway, M1 motorway roads. A direct motorway road link from the M18 junction 3 to the airport is planned and is expected to open by 20102. There is also a connection from Junction 34 of the A1(M) Motorway. The Airport has 2,500 car parking spaces.

* Map sources for Robin Hood Airport, located at 53°28′29″N, 1°0′16″W

Rail Links

Doncaster station is a major UK Railway Station and is served by Northern Rail, Virgin Trains, GNER, TransPennine Express, Central Trains, Midland Mainline and Hull Trains. Doncaster is 1 Hour 35 Mins from London Kings Cross or 20 Mins from Sheffield Station (using direct services). From Doncaster Station several direct bus services transport passengers to the Airport.

In addition, the airport lies alongside the Doncaster to Lincoln railway line, and plans for a station have been submitted for local planning permission.

Public Transport Bus Links

Public transport is by hourly bus from Doncaster town centre. At present the airport is served by various airport bus links from all major local bus companies. These include:

* 91 from Doncaster, First South Yorkshire AirRailLink (half hourly) - Low Floor Branded Bus
* X19 from Doncaster and Barnsley, Stagecoach in Yorkshire (Hourly) - Low Floor Double Decker
* 707 from Doncaster, Wilfreda Beehive Airport Arrow (Hourly)- Low Floor Branded Bus
* 350 from Mexborough & Conisbrough via Lakeside & Dome Doncaster Community Transport (Hourly) - Low Floor Branded Bus

Airlines and destinations

[edit] Scheduled Flights
* Flybe (Belfast-City)
* Flyglobespan (Toronto-Hamilton [Starts May 2007])
* Ryanair (Dublin, Girona, Pisa)
* Shaheen Air International (Islamabad [Start tbc], Toronto [Start tbc])
* Thomsonfly (Alicante, Amsterdam, Faro, Jersey, Málaga, Palma, Paris-Orly, Pisa, Prague, Salzburg)
* Wizzair (Katowice, Gdansk [Starts Summer 2007])

Charter Flights

* MyTravel (Alicante, Almeria, Palma, Paphos)

Summer Destinations

* BH Air (Bourgas, Varna)
* Thomsonfly (Bodrum, Bourgas, Cancun, Corfu, Dalaman, Orlando Florida-Sanford, Girona, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Larnaca, Malta, Menorca, Naples, Paphos, Pisa, Puerto Plata, Reus, Rhodes, Salzburg, Tenerife-South, Verona, Zakynthos)
* Thomas Cook (Dalaman (Pegesus Airlines), Gran Canaria (Air Europa), Monastir (Nouvelair), Palma (Air Europa), Tenerife (Air Europa))
* Goldtrail Holidays (Dalaman (Onur Air))

Winter Destinations

* Thomsonfly(Alicante, Faro, Gran Canaria, Malaga, Paphos, Sharm el Sheikh, Tenerife South)

Thomsonfly Also fly on a weekly basis to 4 Ski Destinations:

* Plovdiv (Saturday)
* Salzburg (Saturday)
* Chambery (Saturday) New for 2007/8
* Turin (Sunday)

The Airport also has various Fly-Cruise Departures to:

* Barbados
* Montego Bay (Jamaica)
* Fort Lauderdale (U.S.A.)
* New Orleans (U.S.A.)

The airport has an email address where new routes can be suggested or requested.

The Airport in the media

During its first few years of operation, Robin Hood Airport has featured a lot in the media. Numerous articles on its status as the UK's newest International Airport has seen it become part of the debate into air tourism and enviromental issues. On 24 January 2007, the aiport featured in the BBC Two documentary, Should I Really Give Up Flying?, with local Doncaster celebrity, Brian Blessed fronting local opinions on the issue. Robin Hood Airport has also been a location spot for some dramatic scenes filmed and feautred in Emmerdale.

The Airport name

The name is now often simply referred to on travel websites and on other literature as Doncaster/Sheffield Airport or Doncaster Airport, even though the official name is Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield.

The Airport was named 'Robin Hood' based on the following local information:-

1. The original Robin Hood legends are set in Barnsdale Forest the area of South Yorkshire which surrounded Doncaster and Pontefract.
2. This legend is reinforced by the fact that the village pub in nearby Hatfield Woodhouse has always been known as the Robin Hood and Little John
3. The Airport has a historical reference to Nottinghamshire (as the parish of Finningley was, until 1974 and the Local Government Act 1972, administered as part of Nottinghamshire) and still resides in the boundary of the Diocese of Nottingham.
4. Some later Robin Hood legends - and the popular 20th century books, fims and TV programmes are set in Sherwood Forest.
5. The Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster is closer to what is left of Sherwood Forest than the City of Nottingham is.
6. The forests of Sherwood and Barnsdale merged in this area of Yorkshire.
7. 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 controversy as Robin Hood has not during the 20th century been regularly associated with Doncaster; despite the Barnsdale legends, and the references to Robin Hood in pubnames such as the aforementioned Robin Hood and Little John. Many citizens of Nottingham feel that Robin Hood should be the icon of their City alone (despite the fact that it was the Sheriff that came from Nottingham).

Source: Wikipedia