RAF Middleton St George

The aerodrome began life in January 1941 as Royal Air Force Station Middleton St. George or RAF Goosepool as known to the locals (though it has never officially held that name). It was the most northerly of all Bomber Command airfields, home to both Royal Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons during WWII, and exclusively RAF post-war. Of the many military aircraft based at the aerodrome, it is best known as home to the Avro Lancaster during the war and English Electric Lightning in the 1960s. In 1957, the runway was extended to its current length of 7,516ft (2,291m). The RAF station was closed in 1964 and the airfield sold to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Tees-Side Airport

The former RAF Station was then developed into a civil airport. The first civilian flight from the newly named Tees-Side Airport took place on 18 April 1964 with a Mercury Airlines service to Manchester. On 1 November 1966, the international passenger terminal was opened by Princess Margaretha of Sweden.

In the early days, the airport developed a network of mainly scheduled routes, with limited inclusive tour charter flights. The destinations were consistent but the airlines were not, with British Midland, BKS Air Transport, Dan-Air, Autair and Channel Airways all coming and going before the turn of the decade. In November 1969 British Midland returned when they were awarded the licence to fly the London Heathrow route, which they continued operating until 28 March 2009.

The 1970s saw a decline in regional services but a growth in holiday flights, courtesy of Northeast Airlines (a rebranded BKS Air Transport) and Britannia Airways, as well as overseas operators such as Aviaco, Spantax and Aviogenex amongst others.

On 19 October 1971, the Teesside Airport railway station opened, with a shuttle bus running between the station and the terminal.

During 1974, the CAA declared Tees-Side should be the primary airport for the North East of England, this never materialized however.

The 1980s saw scheduled routes resurge thanks to home-grown airline Casair Aviation Services, who had started out as an air taxi operator in 1972. In October 1982, Casair merged their scheduled services (but kept their air taxi operation) with Genair of Liverpool and Eastern Airways of Humberside (predecessor to the airline of the same name operating today) under the Genair name, and one month later the first UK regional feeder franchise network was launched via a partnership with British Caledonian, trading under the British Caledonian Commuter Services banner. However, the new venture only lasted until July 1984 when Genair collapsed, causing the loss of 11 out of 18 routes for Tees-Side Airport. Casair stepped back in, taking over Genair services to Glasgow and Humberside, which they operated initially on behalf of Air Ecosse and then independently.

On 11 December 1982, the airport chartered Concorde for the day, it would visit twice more before its retirement, on 23 August 1986 for the air show and 30 April 1995.

Teesside International (1987–2004)

In 1987, the airport was privatised, with Cleveland and Durham local authorities retaining their shares. As part of this process the airport re-branded from Tees-Side Airport to Teesside International Airport.

One millionth aircraft movements at the airport was achieved in 1990, in the form of a British Midland service to London Heathrow. In 1996 when Cleveland County Council was abolished, the airport ownership was divided amongst local Borough Councils. Passenger numbers grew steadily from 1993 based upon an expanding holiday charter business.

In 1994, Airtours arrived on the scene and from 1997 based a summer seasonal aircraft at the airport, this coupled with other tour operator expansion propelled the airport to new heights.

In 2002, the airport sought a strategic partner to assist with future development and Peel Airports Ltd was selected as the preferred company, taking a 75% stake in the airport, with a clause to increase to 89% after 10 years, and a commitment to invest £20 million over the first five years.

Peel brought Teesside into the low cost era by securing bmibaby who based initially one, later two aircraft at the airport, ultimately giving the airport its peak years.

Durham Tees Valley (2004–2019)

On 21 September 2004, the airport was renamed Durham Tees Valley Airport at the request of bmibaby, who felt the new name placed the airport better geographically as many of the airport's passengers, particularly those from outside the UK, were unfamiliar with the location of Teesside, whilst Durham was better known. The move was widely condemned by the local population who felt passionately about the name Teesside, and considered the term Tees Valley to be geographically inaccurate, as there is no such valley.

Shortly afterwards, a new access road, terminal front and terminal interior were completed. The remainder of a planned £56 million expansion and development programme would have enabled the airport to handle up to 3 million passengers annually.