Why Doncaster Sheffield Airport is key to levelling up - The Yorkshire Post says

The fact that Oliver Coppard, Mayor of South Yorkshire, has come and said that he will do everything that he can to keep the airport open is welcome.

But there is a long way to go if the airport’s future is to be saved with its current owner, the Peel Group, launching a “review of strategic options” with the firm saying “aviation activity on the site may no longer be commercially viable”.

While Teesside Airport was taken into public ownership - it has come at a cost, requiring a £20m injection of taxpayers’ money.

Land on and around DSA is also limited to aviation use.

The reality is that the airport’s potential has never really been realised.

With the likes of Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester already at capacity - a thriving DSA would not only be good for people in Yorkshire but also for the region’s economy.

And as Nick Fletcher, MP for Don Valley, pointed out in The Yorkshire Post earlier this week, “landing in Heathrow to travel to Doncaster is not levelling up, and it’s not good for the environment”.

DSA has an airspace that is underused meaning that there is little circling and waiting for landing slots. In turn less fuel is used.

It also has the potential to save tens of thousands of car journeys with people from the region not needing to travel further to catch a flight.

Whatever the future ownership of DSA looks like, it is important that the site isn’t mothballed.