Doncaster Sheffield Airport passenger flights won't start until 2028, Oliver Coppard reveals

Doncaster Council, which is hoping to run the airport through a council-owned company if Mr Coppard releases its share of devolution funding for the project, has repeatedly previously said it wants to reopen the airport from spring 2026.

But in a speech to business leaders in Doncaster on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Coppard revealed a new timeframe for the potential reopening of the commercial element of the airport, which was closed by previous owners Peel in 2022 following years of running at a loss.

He said: “We’re now unlikely to be at full operational capacity until 2028.

“We would be unlikely to see commercial passenger flights into or out of DSA before 2028, albeit we will of course aim for that to happen sooner.”

Mr Coppard said “there will be things happening sooner”, with freight and potential private flights “easier” to arrange.

A final decision on releasing funds for the project had originally been due in February this year but was delayed by Mr Coppard to seek independent advice over concerns that backing the scheme carried a “significant risk” to public money.

Mr Coppard said while he has been criticised for postponing a decision by the Mayoral Combined Authority board made up of himself and other South Yorkshire political leaders, further work was necessary following the failure to find a private operator to take the airport on.

“That material change has required us to undertake a new and deeper level of analysis, to satisfy the very significant demands of using public funding for a project of this nature and this scale,” he said.

“I have made, and will make, no apology for that approach; for doing the proper due diligence when being asked to potentially spend in excess of £150 million of public money, to make real a project that has the potential to be either a huge economic driver, or a significant drain on public funds.”

Mr Coppard said almost 1,000 pages of “investment grade due diligence” have been done on the scheme and also revealed the potential economic benefits of the reopened airport are “lower than we initially understood”.

Doncaster Council’s business plan has not been made public but the authority has previously said it shows the scheme will act as a catalyst for wider regeneration around the site involving new homes and employment land and forecasted that 5,000 direct jobs could be created with a potential economic benefit of £9 for every £1 spent.

It also hopes to have up to five airlines operating from DSA.

But Mr Coppard said: “We know the commercial aviation and passenger forecasts have the potential to make or break this project, and that at the lower end of those forecasts do have the potential to undermine the viability of DSA.

“But we also know now that the wider South Yorkshire Airport City project will not, cannot, solely be focused on providing low-cost holiday flights.

“There is no future for a regional airport in South Yorkshire with a business model solely concerned with commercial passenger flights.

“We now know that if we are able to realise our ambitions of a world leading sustainable aviation hub at Gateway East, the funds from business rate retention would offset a huge proportion of the costs of reopening DSA.

“We now know that the cost-benefit ratio of reopening DSA may be lower than we initially understood, but with the right conditions the project could still provide a strong economic and social benefit to South Yorkshire, and a decent return to taxpayers over the long-term.”

Mr Coppard insisted he is committed to the principle of saving DSA and has put years of work alongside partners into making it happen and disagreed with those who say it should remain closed. But he added a final decision on whether it will reopen is still yet to be made.

“I still cannot say we will be reopening DSA and creating a world leading sustainable aviation hub at Gateway East,” he said.

“There are still challenges for us to overcome.

“There have been and will always be decent people arguing in good faith that we should not reopen DSA. While I disagree, I have never been immune to those arguments.

“So, I cannot prejudge the decision we will be taking as an MCA Board not least because that work is still going on. The money we have to spend on this project is not – indeed never has been – unlimited.

“But I can say that if we are not able to take a positive decision to fund the reopening of our airport, it will not be for a lack of work, a lack of political will or a lack of analysis and insight.

“What I can promise, is that by the time we take the final decision, we will have done everything we can to take the best possible decision for the future, for all of the communities of South Yorkshire, that I will remain transparent and accountable, and that whatever that final decision, I will be able to stand in front of you and in good faith, hand on heart, say that I have done everything I can to take the right decision on behalf of South Yorkshire, and to save DSA.”

The Mayor’s decision will be announced on September 9, when a meeting of the Mayoral Combined Authority Board will take place.

Following Coppard’s speech, a spokesperson for the City of Doncaster Council said: “Technically DSA is already open again with 2Excel planes back using the runway, but in relation to freight and passenger flights it will be a gradual re-opening.

“There of course remains a number of interdependencies. Once we have the Gainshare decision signed off in early September we can finalise our plans, including progressing with the Airspace and signing-up airlines and freight providers.”

Additional reporting by Harry Harrison