Hopes of Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) is alive again as City of Doncaster Council has sealed a 125-year lease deal with the airport’s owners, Peel Group, which had earlier refused to sell the facility. The deal comes 16 months after the airport was closed when Wizz Air pulled out.
MPs express delight after lease deal signed, as they expect the 125-year lease will help to ensure the future of the airport site with an ambition to return planes to the skies from the city.
As per Doncaster Council, the announcement follows over a year of detailed and complex negotiations with landowners the Peel Group. The lease agreement is the first stage in the process to reopen the airport. The next stage is the appointment of an airport operator to manage the operational airport.
On the latest development, South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard said:
“There remain steps ahead on this journey, the next one being bringing in a private operator with the capability and experience to turn DSA into the thriving regional airport we know it can be." “I am keen to see the council now secure that private sector operator to run the airport as swiftly as possible.”
Expressing her pleasure, Doncaster Mayor Ros Jones said,
“This is a significant day in our ambition to reopen the airport as the lease has been signed.”
“I was determined to find a way to secure the future of aviation in Doncaster and this agreement helps us along the way to reopening our airport and seeing planes taking off once again.
“This is a major step in the reopening process. The next is appointing an operator and investor who will manage and develop the airport. This process is well underway and I am optimistic that I can announce a partnership later in the spring."
Sources say that the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority had granted access to £138 million in funds to reopen the airport.
Oliver Coppard added further saying,
“Once they have that agreement in place, the Mayoral Combined Authority stands ready to assess the full business case in order to release the funding to support this deal, and to get DSA flying again."
"I know people want us to move quickly and we will, but I have said from the start, we will only ever do things in a way that protects taxpayers while giving both DSA and South Yorkshire the brightest possible future.”
Opened in the year 2005 on the site of the former RAF Finningley air base, Peel Group announced the decision to close the DSA Airport after just 17 years of operation, with the last flight landing in November 2022.
After its closure, there has been a concerted effort to re-open it among politicians and campaign groups, with a petition garnering more than 100,000 signatures.
Mayor Ros Jones added further by thanking the council officers and South Yorkshire Leaders ,by saying,
“I would like to personally thank council officers who have worked tirelessly with great dedication, insight, determination and skill to get us to where we are today. This has been no mean feat. Let’s look forward to the future with an airport that will help boost the economic and growth fortunes of our city, South Yorkshire and the north.
“I would also like to thank my fellow South Yorkshire Leaders for backing the efforts of me and this council to save and reopen our airport. This airport is for the whole of South Yorkshire.”
Doncaster Council added to the context by saying,
The lease signing forms part of the South Yorkshire Airport City programme which City of Doncaster Council put in place dedicated to working towards reopening the airport.
The programme covers all the technical, legal, procurement and financial work necessary to progress securing the site and preparing essential requirements ahead of a partnership with an operator.
The programme is not the name of the airport which would be determined at a future date.
Reacting to the news, the Chief Execs for all three regional Chambers of Commerce (those being the respective networks for Doncaster, Sheffield and Barnsley & Rotherham) issued a joint statement, and said,
"There has been an encouragingly strong market interest when it comes to the search for a new operator, so it is clear to others that DSA can be profitable. What’s more, a recent impact report indicated that, over the course of three decades, it has the untapped potential to generate £1.56 billion in net economic benefits."
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