History

Welcome to our history section! This new multi-page 'internet museum' includes a wealth of data and knowledge on our airports past not previously available all in one location! There is still a lot of work to be done, and perhaps the odd error here and there - so if you feel you can contribute towards the history of our airport; be it corrections, additions, knowledge, memorabilia - anything whatsoever - please do not hesitate to get in touch. Thank you.

We need your help! Click here for more info!

Credit and thanks: A big thank you to all who have provided info or any other material for the pages below, there are too many to list - please see the home page for individual mentions. A few of you may even have contributed without realising as some of the lists below are collated from data already available elsewhere on the website. Your contributions are appreciated beyond words! Also worth a thanks are my dislocated patella and COVID-19 for affording me the time to put this all together !!! - Chris.

Timeline of Events - Civil / Military
Two in depth timelines one for the military history including any military happenings taking place during modern times and the other for post-1964 civilian milestones. All major and minor developments are detailed from the well known events such as the arrival of Air Force One and associated contingents down to the little things such as when the runway became re-aligned due to a shift in magnetic north etc. If you know of anything we have missed, please do not hesitate to let us know!

Timetables
We have compiled all of the old timetables we could get our hands on, but we are still missing a few as listed below - do you have any? Please note some of the older timetables are in PDF format and you will need to use your software of choice to rotate them to the correct position.


Recent additions and upgrades: S74

  • Work still to be done: Typing up each timetable into a clear and concise common format, cross-referencing them with the finalised programmes and correcting accordingly, adding one-off charters by the likes of Transun, Newmarket etc and finally scan the hard copies to go hand-in-hand with the typed versions.

  • Missing timetables [hard copies]: All pre-1972W, 1974W, 1975S, 1975W, 1976S, 1976W, 1978W, 1979S, 1980W, 1982W, 1984S, 1985W, 1986S, 1986W, 1988S, 1988W, 1989W, 1990S, 1990W, 1991S, 1992W, 1993S, 1993W, 1994W, 1997W, 1998S, 2000W, 2004W, 2005S, 2005W, 2006S, 2007S and 2008W.

Route List
For the first time ever, a documented list of all the routes ever operated from here!

  • Most PDF viewers will offer a zoom function that will be required when viewing the above documents.

  • The 1968 Air Pageant programme references holidays flights by Channel Airways using BAC 1-11 and Trident aircraft, however we can find no trace of these.

  • Early data is patchy at best, it is thought some "one-off" charters might have made it into the route lists in error.

  • There was not sufficient room to list the axe reason for our first Orlando service with Air Europe in 1989. The Teesside Air Letter cites poor marketing, short notice, value of the pound against the dollar and aircraft availability all as reasons it only lasted one season.

  • One-off MOD charter flights excluded unless they form part of a larger series with other carriers.

  • Britannia Nordic operated our based Boeing 737-800 in summer 2005.

  • FlyGlobespan cited aircraft lease expiry as the reason for closing our base. It is also felt they wished to focus on their core Scottish market.

  • Loganair cited our aircraft coming off lease as the reason for withdrawing their first MME base, however they resolved their dispute with Flybe which was the reason for them competing on the Aberdeen route in the first instance, with Loganair withdrawing from Eastern's core routes and vice versa. Bristol was launched and axed during a pandemic, and not allowed the time needed to perform under normal trading conditions, nor was it marketed well. Loganair cited "poor demand" as the reason for ending several services, however most experienced last gasp "spikes" due to raised awareness from the publicity surrounding the termination, meaning marketing was poor rather than demand.

Previous Operators
Air operators that have called Teesside home over the years.

Hangar Usage - new!
Who lived where and when

  • Lot's of gaps here, please fill them in if you can!

Accidents and Incidents
All of the mishaps over the years associated with the airport, some more serious than others. Excludes aircraft lost in combat during WWII.

Previous Residents (Military) - WWII / Post-War
We have added a list of resident military aircraft where known, we have most of the WWII airframes but limited post-war data.

MRO Projects
Engineering and Maintenance activity at Teesside over the years.

Existing pages relevant to this section

Military Index (WWII Missions)
We were missing 1944/5 which seems to be now mostly complete.

Historic Photos
The existing historic photo pages have been improved, including several additions thanks to Trevor Jones.

Previous Residents (Civil)
Constructing some of the above pages provided valuable data on previous residents that filled in a lot of gaps.

Memorial Room
The airport memorial room - currently mothballed inside the former St. George Hotel pending relocation. Some artifacts now on display in the terminal between arrivals and departures.