"Major milestone": Doncaster Sheffield Airport public consultation on airspace plans to start in summer
A public consultation on Doncaster Sheffield Airport’s airspace plans is due to take place this summer as part of progress towards reopening.
Plans to reinstate airspace at DSA, which closed in 2022, are currently being assessed by the Civil Aviation Authority ahead of an expected final decision in late May next year.
The CAA has now confirmed DSA has passed the first two stages of its Airspace Change Process; paving the way for a consultation process to start as the third stage.
Christian Foster, director of City of Doncaster Council-owned airport operator FlyDoncaster, said: “We are undertaking an expedited process alongside our highly experienced team and our specialist consultants, so that we can realise the benefits of a reopened Doncaster Sheffield Airport as soon as possible and start delivering a positive impact for the local economy.
"Passing this point is a major milestone, and I’m very grateful to our team for the significant amount of work that has got us to this stage as well as our aviation consultants Trax International who have been pivotal to this success.
"I’d also like to pay tribute to the many supportive stakeholders who have fed back on our plans and helped us to refine our requirements for the ACP.
“We now look forward to taking these plans out to wider consultation this summer, which will include a number of drop-in events, the opportunity to feed back online and a range of other avenues allowing stakeholders and individuals to have their say.”
The current timeline for passenger flights returning to DSA, which has been pushed back several times, is Easter 2028.
The decision after councillors reaffirmed support for a £57m loan towards the reopening project at a council meeting on Monday. Reform councillors had threatened to cancel the loan but instead opted to put new scrutiny measures in place for the project.
Mayor Ros Jones told the meeting the council is talking to “national, European and international airlines” about using DSA. She said negotiations with Tui are among those taking place.
The £57m loan and associated interest is due to be repaid from £160m worth of devolution funding controlled by the office of South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard. This will not be released until the current airport lease is renegotiated with landowner Peel, with discussions restarting this week.
There is a current impasse over whether taxpayer funding can be excluded from a turnover rent clause entitling Peel to 20 per cent of future airport revenues above the annual base rent repayments.