Doncaster Sheffield Airport reopening gets lift-off as Oliver Coppard reveals £160m decision

Doncaster Sheffield Airport reopening gets lift-off as Oliver Coppard reveals £160m decision

Doncaster Sheffield Airport is to reopen under public ownership after South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard confirmed he will give the green light - and up to £160m in cash - to the project.

The site was closed by previous owners Peel in 2022 after running at a loss for years.

It is now due to be run by Doncaster Council via a council-owned company after attempts to find a private investor to take it on failed.

It is intended that the reopening of the airport will be the catalyst for new homes and businesses in the area, creating thousands of jobs, while there are ambitions for a neighbouring logistics park called Gateway East to become a “world-leading sustainable aviation hub”.

But the plan has proved controversial with rival airports, with Leeds Bradford Airport warning of the risk of “unfair competition” from spending public money on subsidising DSA.

A final decision on whether Mr Coppard would release devolution funding to Doncaster Council to allow them to proceed with reopening was delayed for months so further analysis could be conducted. That came after the South Yorkshire mayor was warned by his officers that the plan could pose a “significant risk” to public funds.

Mr Coppard’s officials are now recommending the plan gets the green light in advance of a final decision next week by Mr Coppard and South Yorkshire’s four council leaders.

The mayor told reporters on Monday afternoon that he will back a proposal to commit up to £160m of funding to the reopening.

“I’m pleased to be able to say I will be voting in favour of that funding decision based on the information that has been given to me, the advice I’ve been given and the huge amount of work we’ve done,” he said.

“I will be voting in favour of the full funding for Doncaster Sheffield Airport in order to create a thriving airport at the heart of South Yorkshire and a world-leading sustainable aviation and advanced manufacturing hub at Gateway East.”

Last week Mr Coppard revealed passenger flights were unlikely to be running from DSA until 2028 and also revealed there were "ongoing conversations" about the lease for the airport land.

When asked whether anything has changed in the last week to affect his decision, Mr Coppard said: “There’s been a huge amount of work that has gone on, not just over the last week but over the last few months to get to this point today. It has always been an accumulating amount of evidence in this in favour of that decision, for me at least.

“I have been convinced in the last week in particular as that work has come to fruition and those final ‘I’s have been dotted and those ‘T’s crossed that I can confidently support the funding ask from Doncaster Council.

“I’ve always had two challenges to balance; protecting taxpayers’ money but also doing what I wanted to do which is to save DSA. The evidence is now showing we can confidently move forward.”