#FlyDSA: 'My house to Paris in just three hours - I was amazed!'

“From leaving my house, to landing in Paris, took just three hours - I was amazed!” smiled the 32-year-old.

“I turned my key in the lock and climbed into my car just after 5am. The plane landed in Paris just after 8am. If you’re travelling somewhere for the weekend, believe me, that’s exactly the sort of travel time you want.”

It was Emma and husband Andy’s first flight from their local airport when they took the romantic trip to France’s capital recently - and Emma has already booked to jet off again next month.

“It’s so much easier, distance-wise, to get there,” said Emma, who is director of Chesterfield firm, eBusiness Works.

“It was a friend of mine who recomend we try it and, when we checked the website, the flight times and prices were really good so we went ahead and booked.

“When we got there, at 5.45am, we were able to park right outside the terminal door, grab our suitcases and literally just carry them across the street.

“We checked in, went through security and were sat at the bar with a drink in hand by 6am.

“On the way back, we went home down the link road and it took less than an hour from touching down in the UK, to walking in our front door in Dronfield. We were eyeing up all their destinations while we were there, and saying ‘hmm, we’ve never been to Dublin, maybe we should book and go there next!”

This month The Star launched its #FlyDSA campaign to promote Doncaster Sheffield Airport – to help the region fly.

We’re making it our mission to promote DSA as the first choice for millions of holidaymakers and businesses who, in turn, could pump billions into our own economy.

With the new link road putting the commute to DSA, from Sheffield city centre, at just 25 minutes, we are keen to help banish the decades-old habits of travelling outside the region to catch a plane, and instead focus on attracting more investment and business to our own city, rather than continue to see it sent outside the region.

And, with that in mind, busting the myth that DSA is more expensive than other airports in the North is top of our agenda.

Emma added: “My next flight to Paris is costing £103 for a return ticket, which I thought was pretty good. I’m also flying by myself for the first time, to go and see some friends. I thought since it was such a nice, easy and local experience, this would be a good first flight to do alone.

“I’d recommend DSA to anyone. I just hope that, as the airport grows, it will offer more and more locations, because it’s just so convenient and pleasant I’d love to travel from there more. My husband does a lot of travelling for work, to Europe, and we’d definitely check DSA first in future to see if he could fly from there.”

Last month, DSA announced its best year ever, with more than 1.2 million passengers travelling to 43 destinations.

Steve Gill, chief executive of Doncaster Sheffield Airport said: “In the past 12 months Doncaster Sheffield Airport has seen a record numbers of passengers and this is in no small part thanks to the difference that Great Yorkshire Way has made to our accessibility.

“Great Yorkshire Way is delivering greatly enhanced connectivity to the Sheffield City region’s airport, placing DSA within minutes of the UK’s major motorway network and bringing global business closer to Sheffield’s £30 billion economy.

“Since the opening of the M18 Junction 3 motorway link road, exactly 12 months ago, we have seen impressive planned growth with increased capacity from our incumbent airlines Thomson and Wizz and our new partnership with Flybe.

“This gateway to the Sheffield City Region is truly transformational and the new road is proving to be a huge draw for passengers, adds to our cargo offer and its wider role as a catalyst for attracting inward investment to the region.”