Doncaster Sheffield Airport reopening costs increase to over £145m, council paper reveals

It had previously been revealed that the council intended to loan £105m to Fly Doncaster towards the costs of reopening, using its share of South Yorkshire devolution funding up to 2050 which is overseen by Mayor Oliver Coppard. The low rate of the loans mean the money had been calculated as having an effective grant value of almost £90m.

But a new report going to a meeting of the council’s cabinet next week now states £145m is required to reopen the airport.

The report said the scheme "has the potential to be the largest investment ever made” by the council and mayor’s office and “South Yorkshire has no other opportunities of this scale in its investment pipeline”. It is intended the reopening of the airport would be the catalyst for wider regeneration work around the airport which the council say could ultimately create 5,000 jobs.

It is unclear from the report whether the further £40m will be in further loan spending on top of the initial £105m or from alternative sources of funding. Doncaster Council has been contacted for comment.

But the report stated that a procurement process had failed to identify the external private investment needed “and therefore increased grant funding is initially sought to meet the estimated costs”.

The report added: “This includes a loan requirement calculated for FlyDoncaster Ltd, based on the updated Financial Plan, which incorporates robust assumptions for all income and expenditure, and assumes post 2033/34 all FlyDoncaster Ltd costs will be funded from income generated, with any additional cashflow needs being provided from external private income obtained.”

It stated: “The Full Business Case currently refers to costs of £145.4m and the need to make loans to FlyDoncaster Ltd. This will require approval later and that approval will include the detailed financial implications of making those loans.

“FlyDoncaster Ltd is wholly owned by City of Doncaster Council and therefore robust governance will need to be put in place to protect the council’s interests if loans are made.”

It also added that the council intends to commit £10m in one-off funding, along with a planned £10m from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, towards “essential costs” as a decision is awaited on whether the latter body will grant funding for the plan.

SYMCA had originally planned to make a final decision last month on whether to green light funding but a final decision is now set to be delayed until summer with an independent assessment ordered due to the potential “significant financial risk to the public sector” from the plan.

In February last year, the mayor’s office earmarked £138m “in principle” towards the goal of reopening the airport “subject to the right deal being struck with the right partner”.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post prior to the publication of the new council report, Mr Coppard said he would get independent auditors to review the proposals to ensure they are “a good deal for taxpayers”.

“We’ve said from the beginning that getting the airport back up and running is going to require public sector investment,” he said.

“We’ve got to protect taxpayers’ money but we’ve also got to grab opportunities with both hands. We’ve got to balance those risks and opportunities of course, and that is what we are doing.

“I will not invest if this is not a good deal for taxpayers, not going to create jobs and growth and opportunity. If this is not a risk worth taking I will not do it, it is as simple as that.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said last week that the Government would support efforts to reopen the airport and Mr Coppard said this commitment unlocks “a huge amount of opportunity”.

Mr Coppard said delaying a final decision until summer would allow conversations with Government, including the Department for Transport and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, to “work better, go further, go faster”.

“Doncaster-Sheffield Airport and South Yorkshire Airport City is potentially a massive growth project, both for us and for the Government,” he said.

“Now we’ve got the government on our side, that unlocks a huge amount of opportunity.”