Lesley Kane, Ryanair's new European head of sales and marketing, visited the site to reaffirm its support of the airport.

Ryanair, which recently greeted its 500,000th passenger from Robin Hood Airport, is on target to carry 230,000 passengers to and from Doncaster this year, up from 50,000 in 2005.

Ms Kane said: "We enjoy a hugely important presence here as well as a fantastic record of growth, and I want to reaffirm our commitment to Robin Hood Airport for the foreseeable future.

"Our first flight from Robin Hood was in 2005 and the airport's performance has gone from strength to strength in that time. We're delighted with the progress.

"We've already seen airlines go bankrupt as a result of the global downturn and we expect to see more before too long, but Ryanair is Europe's most financially secure airline and we will continue to grow together with Doncaster Sheffield Airport."

Nick Smillie, Robin Hood Airport's aviation sales director, said the industry was going through a tough time but the airport had a strong partnership that would continue to flourish for the good of the region.

He said: "It is important that despite the economic problems we continue to work hard at these relationships to ensure we realise Doncaster Sheffield Air-port's huge potential and increasingly benefit the region."






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