South Yorkshire mayor announces ‘major step’ towards reopening Doncaster-Sheffield Airport

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The airport owner, owner Peel Group said it was no longer commercially viable, but the mayor, City of Doncaster Council and the Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) have been working to find a way to re-open the airport that is legally and financially sound.

MCA 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”.

The fresh outline business case published on 5 February 2024 says “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.

Using the outline business case, the MCA board is being asked at a meeting on 13 February to approve the recommendation to work up a full business case which could be completed by spring 2024.

Symca said if a full business case is completed and a suitable operator is found, “South Yorkshire could be well on its way to seeing DSA re-open”.

City of Doncaster Council will continue to lead on “the negotiation with airport owners” and on the “procurement exercise to attract a new operator” but Symca said public investment “remains contingent on the successful completion of those negotiations”.

Reopening of DSA is at the core of the region’s Gateway East plan, a Department for Business and Trade-backed project to create “a world-class destination for research, innovation and living, where sustainable environments and international connectivity create an opportunity for communities to thrive” in Doncaster.

The MCA will continue to provide “strategic advice and support to the council in relation to the wider regeneration of the development of the Gateway East site to support a reopened airport”.

South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard, said: “These proposals represent a major step towards re-opening our airport and delivering a 10-year plan for South Yorkshire Airport City at Gateway East; not only re-opening our airport but creating an internationally significant, sustainable aviation and advanced manufacturing hub in Doncaster.

“This is part of our plan for growth across our whole region, delivering long term benefits for Doncaster and the whole of South Yorkshire, with a thriving regional airport at its heart”.

DSA has had a turbulent few years with plans for expansion proposed in 2018 when the airport was still in operation. The plans at the time were backed by 90% of respondents to a consultation.

At the time of the proposed expansion in 2018, the then Sheffield City Region mayor Dan Jarvis said there was “immense further potential which the draft Masterplan sets out a sensible path to deliver”.

Despite the local support for DSA, Peel Group determined that it was “no longer commercially viable” to run services from the airport after Wizz Air had pulled out over commercial insecurities in June 2022. The airport closed in November 2022.

Reflecting on the recent history of the airport, Coppard said “getting to this point has not been easy” and said reopening the airport “would take time and huge amounts of hard work”.

He said the outline business case he was putting forward marks “a significant step in the process of reopening DSA.

He went on to stress a balanced approach to the proposed development, saying me thought that the economic case was “compelling”, but that could not mean “a blank cheque and he was “determined to get a good deal” for the local community.

City of Doncaster Council mayor Ros Jones said: “Saving and reopening our airport is my number one priority, I am pleased to say that lease negotiations continue to progress positively, and I am confident that we can agree a deal, but we are not over the line yet.

Jones went on to say that the City of Doncaster Council had “entered the next stage of the procurement process, which is progressing as planned” and said this was with the aim of “appointing an operator in the spring”.

She said the council had offered “to purchase the airport from the current landowners” but that offer was rejected.

Campaign for Better Transport campaigns manager Michael Solomon Williams said: “In the midst of a climate crisis we need to be looking at more sustainable ways to grow the economy.

“Rather than enabling even more polluting flights, we should be improving rail links to existing airports and investing more in international rail as an alternative to flying.”

Solomon Williams pointed to existing rail projects, saying “with the Channel Tunnel only using a fraction of its capacity, Stratford International unused, and Ashford and Ebbsfleet mothballed, the Government should instead show some vision for international rail and unlock the barriers to affordable, sustainable train travel across the UK and Europe.”

The Department for Transport declined to comment.

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