Doncaster Sheffield Airport: Council confirms it has been 'engaging' with international investors
Council officials have confirmed they have been “engaging” with international investors over the future of Doncaster Sheffield Airport - but say their current focus is on the reopening process rather than striking any imminent deals.
The Yorkshire Post revealed on Saturday that a consortium of international investors say they are ready to put “vast sums” into the DSA reopening project and are interested in either acquiring the airport and surrounding land or potentially entering into a public-private joint partnership.
Under the current plans, Doncaster Council is due to reopen the airport via a council-owned company and is set to use its full annual share of South Yorkshire’s devolution funding up until 2050 to do so.
A full council meeting is to take place in six weeks’ time on November 27 to sign off on a £160m funding plan following South Yorkshire’s political leaders agreeing to release the cash at a meeting last month. A decision had originally been due to be taken at the start of the year but was delayed for months due to concerns about risks to public money.
The global investor group, which is not currently publicly revealing the identities of those involved in its bid, argues that its involvement will reduce the risk to taxpayers and allow the potential benefits of the reopening project to be more easily realised. The group has also called for an end to “avoidable delays” as it seeks a deal.
A spokesperson for Doncaster Council said dealing with issues such as redesigning airspace was the authority’s current focus and “capacity” to explore investment opportunities will come at a later point.
The spokesperson said: “City of Doncaster Council are aware of the investor group’s interest and have been engaging with them over the past three years.
“Following the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority funding decision on September 9 2025, City of Doncaster Council’s focus is now on the reopening process, including the airspace change process, with a series of decisions due to be made by the council in November.
“Without predetermining any decisions, once this work is well under way it will allow capacity and business confidence for additional investment opportunities to be explored to help maximise the economic impact of the airport.”
A spokesperson for the investor group described the statement as “disappointing” as they revealed more details about those involved.
“Our consortium is led by a Monaco-based business and investor fully supported by world-leading global investment partners and pension funds as well as international operations partners including those from the UAE and many other countries,” they said.
“We have provided full transparency and required legal information to the City of Doncaster Council to assure them of our credibility and funds.”
The spokesperson said awaiting the outcome of the November council meeting “has several risks to all parties”.
They said the potential option of utilising private funding should be “fully explored” prior to the council meeting, especially given concerns about a potential legal challenge from rival airports over the use of public money to reopen DSA. They also highlighted the growing costs to the council of renting the airport site from landowner Peel.
The spokesperson said: “It is common practice for us to engage in complex negotiations that may be ‘subject to’ other key milestones or decisions.
“However, we remain hopeful that these meaningful discussions can move forward at pace so that we as investors can maintain our passion and commitment to this project despite exhaustive delays to date.”