Doncaster Sheffield Airport cleared to reopen as council signs 125-year lease with landowner

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The news was announced by Doncaster mayor Ros Jones, who said: “Today (21 March) I can announce that we have signed a 125-year lease for the former DSA which will help to ensure the future of the airport site with the ambition to see planes flying once more from Doncaster.

“This follows over a year of detailed and complex negotiations with landowners Peel Group.

“The lease agreement is the first stage in the process to reopen our airport. The next stage is the appointment of an airport operator to manage the operational airport.”

Jones thanked officers at the City of Doncaster Council and said “this has been no mean feat.

“Let’s look forward to the future with an airport that will help boost the economic fortunes of our city, South Yorkshire and the north.”

“I would also like to thank my fellow South Yorkshire leaders for backing the efforts of me and City of Doncaster Council to reopen our airport. This airport is for the whole of South Yorkshire.”

Jones also said the lease is part of the South Yorkshire Airport City programme.

DSA was closed in November 2022 after its owner Peel Group said it was no longer commercially viable.

Doncaster Council rejected this idea and has been working on a programme called South Yorkshire Airport City (SYAC) that would bring it back to life alongside employment, retail and leisure opportunities with transport links that would bring inward investment to Doncaster and South Yorkshire.

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (Symca) awarded City of Doncaster Council £3.1M in summer 2023 to prepare an outline business case “to take control of the airport [from Peel Group] through a leasing arrangement, re-establish operations under a new business model, and use the asset as an anchor for growth at the wider Gateway East site to support economic regeneration and benefits to the city and region as a whole”.

An outline business case published on 5 February 2024 said “re-opening the airport provides the best opportunity to secure economic growth and well-being not just in Doncaster but will have wider benefits for South Yorkshire as a whole,” according to a statement from Symca.

A Peel Group spokesperson said: “We are pleased to have reached agreement with the City of Doncaster Council.

“The Airport forms part of the much larger Gateway East initiative – one of the most significant regeneration and development opportunities in the UK and we look forward to working in partnership together with the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) and City of Doncaster Council to jointly deliver the aspirations of the recently announced Investment Zone and beyond.”

South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard said he was “very pleased” about the lease having been signed.

Coppard said “There remain steps ahead on this journey, the next one being bringing in a private operator with the capability and experience to turn DSA into the thriving regional airport we know it can be.

“I am keen to see the Council now secure that private sector operator to run the airport as swiftly as possible.

“Once they have that agreement in place, the Mayoral Combined Authority stands ready to assess the Full Business Case (FBC) in order to release the funding to support this deal and to get DSA flying again.

“I know people want us to move quickly and we will, but I have said from the start, we will only ever do things in a way that protects taxpayers while giving both DSA and South Yorkshire the brightest possible future.”

Opposition

The news was not welcomed by some, including engineer and writer Gareth Dennis and climate action charity Possible.

Dennis said: “Much as I am sure admirable efforts have gone into securing this lease, the best thing for the environment and the South Yorkshire economy would be to close the airport and build a new mixed-use community on the land.

“For the UK, there’s no causal link between air transport and economic or employment growth, and the evidence in fact suggests that regional airports have negative impacts on both of these.

“And that’s before considering carbon emissions that could be saved by keeping the airport closed.”

Possible co-director Leo Murray said: “We can’t reopen airports in a climate crisis.

“The reality is that the only way to bring emissions from aviation in line with our climate targets is by taking fewer flights.

“The good news is that just 15% of us take 70% of all flights, so we just need those of us who take most flights to fly a bit less.

“Given half of us don’t even fly in any given year, the people of Doncaster would be much better served by investment in local transport links rather than an airport which will blight us all with climate chaos.”

The Department for Transport declined to comment.

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