Exclusive:Doncaster Sheffield Airport: Transport Secretary says there is a 'good case' for reopening
The case to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport is “really strong”, the Transport Secretary has said, before confirming that she “stands ready” to make sure the project is a success.
There is less than a month before South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard makes the long-awaited decision on whether the former Robin Hood Airport will reopen next year.
Both the Prime Minister and Chancellor have thrown their weight behind Doncaster Mayor Ros Jones’ plan to resurrect the airport, with more than £100m of devolved funding.
An operator, Munich International, is ready to run DSA, and Ms Jones has pledged flights will take off again in spring 2026.
South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard will make the final decision on 9 September on whether loaning £105m of devolved funding to reopen the airport is a good use of taxpayer money.
On a visit to Leeds, Heidi Alexander told The Yorkshire Post that the pair of mayors “have made a really strong case for how central this airport is to the region’s economy”.
“I stand ready to work further with them to make sure we can make this project a success and we can revitalise the local economy, improve local employment prospects and enhance regional connectivity from airports like Doncaster to other airports in the UK and further afield.”
It comes after Ms Alexander’s Department for Transport set up a working group with Mr Coppard and the Aviation Minister Mike Kane, after Sir Keir Starmer pledged £30m to the project.
“I think transport can really unlock local economic growth,” Ms Alexander added.
“We know that if we can increase productivity in parts of the North of England to the same level as currently exists in London and the South East, we could see a massive boost to our economy nationally.”
“That’s why we are determined to put our money where our mouth is.”
Peel Group, the airport’s owner, closed DSA in 2022, after it made a loss every year from 2005.
Ms Jones, the Mayor of Doncaster, has claimed that if the airport reopened it would double Doncaster’s gross value added (GVA) by 2050, and said the rate of return would be nine to one.
However, this would require a substantial amount of public money. Ms Jones has proposed that £105m will be loaned by the council to Fly Doncaster, a council-owned company created to oversee the airport, using its share of devolved Gainshare funding from Mr Coppard.
But recent council papers suggested that the reopening costs could rise to £145m.
The South Yorkshire Mayor has hired independent financial auditors to go through the finances of the plan ahead of the final decision on the Gainshare funding in September.
September 2025 is later than initially anticipated for the SYMCA decision, yet, despite the delay, Jones has told the LDRS she is still committed to getting the airport reopened by spring 2026.
At the time, a spokesperson for the Mayor said: “There of course remain a number of interdependencies.
“Once we have the Gainshare decision signed off in early September we can finalise our plans, including progressing with our Airspace, signing-up airlines and freight providers and to employ and train the hundreds of staff required to operate an airport.”