'Working terribly hard': Doncaster Sheffield Airport bosses respond to questions over 'optimistic' passenger flights timeline
Officials say they are “working terribly hard” on getting passenger flights running at Doncaster Sheffield Airport by winter 2027/28 - despite a decision on restoring airspace to DSA not being due until just six months before then.
Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones had said in the run-up to mayoral elections in May 2025 that the airport would reopen by spring 2026 - despite uncertainty at the time over whether devolution funding would be released by South Yorkshire Oliver Coppard’s office as it conducted due diligence work into the project.
When Mr Coppard and other South Yorkshire leaders eventually backed the conditional release of £160m in September 2025, Mayor Jones announced an amended timeline for freight flights by summer 2026 and passenger flights for winter 2027/28, with bookings being possible before the end of 2026.
Her timeline came despite Mr Coppard stating the week before that passenger flights were “unlikely” before 2028.
In January this year, the Civil Aviation Authority published a timeline for the staged process of reinstating airspace at DSA which has set a proposed date of May 29, 2027 for making a decision.
FlyDoncaster director Christian Foster said it is hoped it may be possible to get a decision more quickly, with the first formal submissions going to the CAA next week.
He said: “We believe while there’s a timeline for May next year that the hard work and hard graft we have done for stage one and two, we’re hoping to be able to expedite other stages but fundamentally it has got to be safe.”
But he accepted some airlines will require a longer period to market routes to customers.
He said: “We’re obviously in negotiations with airlines, some of them require 12 to 18 months of marketing of routes, some of those less so with six months.
“So we’re very keen to make sure that we in the safest and most expedited way can bring back passengers. Obviously the spring-summer season is 2028 but we also recognise that once we get certified we may be eligible for diverts, so that could see potentially passenger aircraft coming in sooner as a result of diverts.”
When asked by The Yorkshire Post whether the winter 2027/28 timeline is still realistic and feasible given the CAA timeline, Mr Foster said: “That’s what we are working terribly hard on. That’s why we are building the team. There are so many moving parts but that’s what we are working towards.”
Damian Allen, Doncaster Council chief executive, said: “We are optimistic in terms of our timeframes for cargo in 2026/27 and for the opening for passengers in the winter of 2027/28.”
It is possible for freight flights to operate in advance of a CAA airspace decision once air traffic control and fire rescue arrangements are in place and Mr Allen said he is keen for that to occur.
“I absolutely want that to happen because the more income we drive, the more opportunity, the better the funding profile,” he said.
He added that the process to reinstate airspace can normally take between two and four years, with the DSA application proceeding on a faster timescale.
DSA is currently unlicensed with the runway technically closed although there is an exemption for aerospace services group, 2Excel, to operate maintenance flights into and out of the airport.
A Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson said: “The proposed airspace change process is ongoing and a final decision will be made in 2027.”