Unions are organising a 'save our airport' protest outside Doncaster Sheffield Airport on Wednesday to demand the reopening. According to Daily Mirror - News, Dave Pike described the closure as a broken promise, while Sarah Barnes said councillors are trampling on workers' dreams. The protest follows councillors' November 2024 agreement to take out a £57 million loan to help reopen the airport.
Despite union fears, operator Fly Doncaster reports progress. A 2Excel Aviation Boeing 727 landed at the airport for a short visit to the company's facility. According to Daily Express - Travel, Christian Foster described the landing as a preview of what will be experienced in coming years. Simon Hinchley said the operation demonstrates that core infrastructure is robust and capable of supporting jet operations. Passenger flights are expected by 2028, with estimates of as many as four million passengers a year eventually. Private planes are set to trial flights this year.
Reform looked voters in the face and promised that Doncaster Sheffield Airport would be at the heart of regenerating Doncaster and the wider region. We expect them to honour that promise.
The airport closed in 2022 after Peel Group, the former owner, said it was no longer financially viable. Doncaster Council signed a 125-year lease for the airport land in 2024 and approved an initial £16 million facility to allow work to begin. A council report put the cost of reopening at £193 million. However, no airline has confirmed it will open a base at the airport. MP Lee Pitcher said last year he was in talks with Ryanair and TUI.
The terms of the loan have not changed since before or after last year's election so there is no justification for this huge U turn.
Reopening Doncaster Sheffield Airport would create thousands of good quality, union jobs and deliver a huge boost to the local economy. Walking away now would mean wasting money already spent, put all those on the line and squandering a once in a generation opportunity for this region.
It wasn't long ago workers, unions and politicians fought tooth and nail to save Doncaster Sheffield airport. Now, councillors want to trample all over their dreams and rob South Yorkshire of its international transport hub.
Doncaster Sheffield airport is vital for the region and will create thousands of jobs. The council needs to row back on their broken promise and give us back our airport.
It's quite a moment seeing a jet land at the airport for the first time in almost four years.
We're fortunate to have one of the longest, strongest and widest commercial runways in the UK, so seeing 2Excel Aviation's 727 land at Doncaster is a good preview to what we'll experience in the coming years.