Last passengers arrive at Doncaster Sheffield Airport

As the last plane touched down at Doncaster Sheffield Airport on Friday night, a small crowd gathered to watch a piece of history unfold.

The airport is set to close imminently, with the final passenger flight from Egypt signalling a new chapter.

Owners Peel decided to cease operations citing the financial viability of the site, threatening 800 jobs.

Passengers on that final flight spoke to the BBC as a buyer is urgently sought to keep the airport open.

"Yet again, the north is going to get left behind," Barnsley holidaymaker Jane Allen said as she left the terminal building for the last time.

The seasoned traveller has used the airport three times this year, picking it over Leeds Bradford Airport or Manchester.

"It's very sad that an airport like this is going to close down and people are going to lose their jobs."

Walking across the car park with their suitcases, Chris and Derek Rush have spent the last week in Hurghada.

The cold South Yorkshire night is a far cry from the golden beaches beside the Red Sea, but their final leg home is a short 40-minute drive back home to Barnsley.

"I love this airport, it's an absolute crying shame. It's just so upsetting and it's such a waste," Chris said.

Going forward, Derek said they would look at using the airports in Manchester or Leeds, which are both further away and "airports we don't particularly like".

"The local people want it, nobody wants it to shut. Everybody on tonight's flight have been absolutely heartbroken," Chris added.

A small crowd gathered at the car park fence, peering through it to watch the last plane land. In the arrivals hall, staff were cheered by locals while others waved placards demanding the airport be saved.

Passengers fresh from Egypt - still wearing shorts and thin shirts - were happy to brave a chilly night, stopping to talk.

For now, the large, modern terminal building will stand empty and silent. With the owners in talks with a potential buyer, what happens next will be decided in meetings far from here.

In 1997 Sheffield opened its own city airport. Doncaster Sheffield opened in 2005. A quarter of a century later both have now closed. Will someone be brave enough to try a third time to bring international commercial travel to the region.

Opened in 2005, Doncaster Sheffield Airport was built on the site of the former RAF Finningley.

A campaign group was involved in getting the airport to start commercial flights. Now 17 years later, Stuart Green, one of those original campaigners, stood at the airfield's perimeter fence to watch the final Tui flight land.

"It's a wonderful airport, the best east of the Pennines, no question about it."

At 81, he hopes a buyer will come in so he can see flights leave the runway once more.

"It is a disgrace that this airport is closing, an utter disgrace. We need the employment. We need to be levelling up, not dumbing down."

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