Airport owners Peel announced they would ‘wind down’ aviation activity from October 30 ahead of the controversial final closure of the airport, which opened in 2005 on the former RAF Finningley runway.

Here’s when the main users of the airport will depart.

TUI

The travel company became the airport’s main carrier following a dispute with Wizz Air earlier this year. The latter axed a number of flights following a ‘breakdown in the commercial agreement’ with operators Peel.

TUI flies to popular sun destinations in Europe, north Africa and North America.

Their final outbound flights from Doncaster leave on the afternoon of Octoober 28 and the final landing is on the evening of November 4.

TUI bosses have vocally opposed Doncaster’s closure, saying the base was popular with customers. They have now increased capacity at other regional airports including Leeds Bradford, Manchester and East Midlands.

Wizz Air

The low-cost airline specialises in eastern European city destinations and had already reduced its services earlier this year and offered pilots and crew the chance to transfer to other bases. Most of the cancelled flights were to Mediterranean resorts, and Wizz continued to serve Cluj, Gdansk, Krakow, Katowice, Otopeni, Poznan, Vilnius, Warsaw and Wroclaw.

The last of these flights will be on October 30, after which they will all transfer to Leeds Bradford Airport.

National Police Air Service

NPAS relocated to Doncaster Sheffield in 2016, having previously flown from the Carr Gate police operations and training centre in Wakefield. The custom-built terminal for the four fixed-wing Vulcanair planes opened in 2020, and helicopters are also based at DSA. The service’s emergency response coverage extends across the whole country.

NPAS have not publicly confirmed their departure date or finalised their aircraft’s new base. There will be some activity at DSA beyond November 4, when commercial aviation ends, raising hopes that NPAS may be able to stay on the site longer in order to perform their emergency role.

Vulcan XH558

One plane that won’t be moving any time soon is the Vulcan – one of the last survivors of the iconic Cold War-era RAF fleet. It has been based at the airport since 2011, and flew until 2015; its owners, charity Vulcan To The Sky Trust, rented space from Peel. Plans to build a museum around it have been thrown into disarray by Peel’s decision.

The Trust, however, have until June 2023 to make a decision on the Vulcan’s future, as Peel have agreed to honour their lease agreement. Trustees hope it can remain on public display at a new location, possibly an air museum, but have not finalised a deal yet.

When the Vulcan does move it will have to be by road convoy, as it is no longer airworthy.

Yorkshire Aero Club

The flight school were long-term Peel tenants and trained many pilots who ended up working for large commercial airlines. However, they do have a sister base at Sandtoft Airfield in Lincolnshire, and will move all operations there – though they have expressed disappointment at the number of their students who will no longer be able to realise their dream of flying out of Doncaster Sheffield.

Doncaster Sheffield Airport closure: TUI and Wizz Air confirm exit dates but National Police Air Service departure still uncertain