Teesside International Airport , previously Durham Tees Valley Airport, is an international airport located between Darlington and Stockton-on-Tees, Northern England. It is about south-west of Middlesbrough. The airport serves the North East, primarily Teesside, County Durham and North Yorkshire. The airport has a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Public Use Aerodrome Licence (number P518) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers and for flight instruction. Tees Valley Combined Authority owns three-quarters of the airport and Teesside Airport Foundation owns the remainder. Originally Royal Air Force (RAF) station Middleton St George, the aerodrome became Tees-Side Airport in 1964, Teesside International Airport in 1987, and Durham Tees Valley Airport in 2004 before reverting to Teesside International Airport in 2019 following a poll indicating 93% of locals preferred the name, with the change occurring on 25 July 2019. 'Teesside Airport' was common on local road signs that were either placed before 2004 or on signs with limited space for the then airport title. History 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 RAF and Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons during WWII, and exclusively RAF post-war. Bombing missions from the station included those to Berlin, Hanover, Kassel, Mannheim and Munich. 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 7,516 ft (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. The IATA code for the new airport was determined as MME, however the meaning of this is disputed. Long term employees and tenants from the 1960s claim Middleton St George AerodroME, but because of the lack of certainty, the current management have unofficially adopted Middleton Military Establishment as a nod to the