Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Teesside International Airport lies in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, on the site of the former RAF Middleton St George, and today serves as the main scheduled and general aviation gateway for the Tees Valley. Its long ex-military runway, full radar and tower service, and ILS approach make it a straightforward and interesting destination for the VFR or IFR simulator pilot exploring North East England.
Teesside International Airport, formerly Durham Tees Valley Airport, is a public-use licensed aerodrome in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, serving Teesside (including Middlesbrough and Stockton-on-Tees), County Durham and North Yorkshire. It began life as a wartime Bomber Command station and retains its long single runway from that era, now equipped with an ILS at each end, which gives it a very different character from most regional GA fields and makes it a worthwhile stop for pilots wanting to fly into a controlled, radar-served airport.
The airfield sits at Middleton St George in the Borough of Darlington, between Middlesbrough and Darlington, in County Durham. It lies at coordinates 54.5092N, 1.4294W and at an elevation of 115 feet.
Teesside has a single physical runway, 05/23, aligned north-east/south-west. It is a hard-surfaced (asphalt), lit runway measuring approximately 7,494 feet, with an instrument landing system serving both the 05 and 23 approaches.
Pilots can expect ATIS on 132.375 MHz. Approach and radar service is provided as Durham Radar on 118.85 MHz, with Durham Tower handling the aerodrome frequency on 119.8 MHz. The runway is equipped with an ILS at both thresholds.
The airfield opened in January 1941 as Royal Air Force Station Middleton St George, known locally as RAF Goosepool, and was the most northerly of Bomber Command's airfields, home to both RAF and Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons during the Second World War and to the RAF alone thereafter. It is particularly associated with the Avro Lancaster during the war and the English Electric Lightning in the 1960s. The runway was extended in 1957 to its current length. The RAF station closed in 1964 and was sold to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, reopening as the civil Tees-Side Airport with a Mercury Airlines service to Manchester on 18 April 1964. The international passenger terminal was opened by Princess Margaretha of Sweden on 1 November 1966. British Midland operated a London Heathrow service from the airport from November 1969 until 28 March 2009. In 1974 the Civil Aviation Authority declared that Tees-Side should become the primary airport for North East England, though this never came to pass. The 1980s brought a series of regional airline ventures, including Casair Aviation Services, the Genair network, and a British Caledonian Commuter Services franchise, before Casair resumed independent operations. The airport hosted three Concorde charters, on 11 December 1982, 23 August 1986 and 30 April 1995. Following privatisation in 1987 the airport was rebranded Teesside International Airport, and in 1990 it recorded its one millionth aircraft movement, a British Midland service to Heathrow. Cleveland County Council's abolition in 1996 altered the ownership structure that had persisted since privatisation.
The airport now operates under the name Teesside International Airport, having reverted from Durham Tees Valley Airport after being brought back into public ownership in 2019. It is owned by Tees Valley Combined Authority, which holds a 75 per cent stake, with the remaining 25 per cent held by the Teesside Airport Foundation. It holds a Civil Aviation Authority Public Use Aerodrome Licence permitting public transport flights and flight instruction, and serves as a home base for based general aviation flying alongside its scheduled airline services.
