It was never meant to be an airport, they built it so close to the M1 and a council estate at the other end that it was always going to be too short to take the growth market (LoCo), if i recall, at the time Sheffield was the largest City in Europe that did not have its own airport and the peoples republic of South Yorkshire and friends (Kinnock) thought that what Sheffield needed after the hard Thatcher years was a symbol of regeneration ie a big high profile dolop of EU cash.
The savy Sheffield developers thought hey up w'il have some of that lad, knowing that it would make a good developement site so close to the M1, well it would once half billion tons of pit spoil had been removed and a few mile of service roads, water, power had been supplied, but that would have cost way to much, unless that is you could get some other daft buggers to do it for you and more importantly pay for it. thats where EU comes in
So insde a year Sheffield will have its name on the airport maps of Europe (provided the display is long enough to spell out Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport) and Sheffield will have a reet good industrial estate next t' chuffin M1
Cheers
Burt