Doncaster Sheffield Airport is set to be taken into full public ownership in a deal that will see South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard’s combined authority buy the land.
A prospective deal with landowner Peel has been struck which will see DSA and an adjacent ‘Innovation Quarter’ employment land site purchased by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.
City of Doncaster Council has been seeking to reopen the airport, which closed in 2022, after signing a 125-year lease with Peel for use of the land.
Mr Coppard had agreed to release £160m of devolution funding towards the project - but only on the basis that a series of changes were made to the lease.
Following more than a year of negotiations with Peel about potential changes to the lease, an alternative new plan has now been announced for the purchase of the site. The change is not due to affect the target of restarting passenger flights by spring 2028.
No figures for the cost of the potential purchase or how it will be structured have yet been made public.
Mr Coppard and Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones are due to hold a press conference at DSA this afternoon, in advance of board papers being published for a SYMCA board meeting next week. The prospective deal also needs to be approved by the board of Peel.
Peel is currently in the process of making a £631m purchase of Yorkshire property development company Harworth, which owns a substantial amount of land around South Yorkshire.
Mr Coppard said: “I’m delighted to say that subject to formal approval of the MCA Board next week and then Peel, we’ve agreed a deal that means we’re taking Doncaster Sheffield Airport and adjacent Innovation Quarter employment land into public ownership.
“This is a deal that puts the future of DSA back in our hands and finally gives one of the biggest and best growth opportunities in South Yorkshire the platform for long-term success that it needs and deserves.
“Four years ago, we were told that our airport would be closing. But alongside Ros Jones, I said I would do anything I could to save DSA, and I meant it.
“Which is why after months of negotiations and the growing flexibility afforded to us by the government’s devolution agenda, today we can announce that we have come to an agreement for SYMCA to buy the airport and Innovation Quarter employment land from Peel.
“Subject to the agreement of the MCA Board next week, the airport and surrounding Innovation Quarter employment land will be owned and controlled by us, for us; the people of South Yorkshire. This deal means our future will be in our own hands again.
“When the airport closed, almost everything was against us; the owners did not want to sell, we had no legal powers to intervene or stop the airport from closing, and no backing from the government at the time. Today, the future for DSA is bright, with the airport back in our hands, the sky’s the limit.”
Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones added: “Fully reopening this airport is my number one priority and with the backing and support of South Yorkshire this deal will make that become a reality.
“This is the right option for the airport – to get it into public ownership and reopened as soon as possible. This is ambitious and the partnership with SYMCA builds on the strong foundations we have built up over the past four years, a foundation upon which we can build together as a team.
“In Doncaster, we have worked hard to get the preparations ready, in relation to airspace certification and airfield readiness, getting key staff in place and importantly keeping those critical conversations with airlines, businesses and support services going. More will be shared when the time is right.
“Our communities have cheered us on throughout as well as local businesses and campaigners and I would like to thank them for their faith in this airport. This deal presents an amazing opportunity to get the people’s airport open again. I look forward to discussing this further next week.”
Stephen Wild, managing director of Peel Land, said: “There has been significant collaboration, and we continue to work closely with our partners at the City of Doncaster Council and the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority to achieve the wider vision.”
It is planned that SYMCA will become the freehold owner and landlord to the CDC lease.
City of Doncaster Council will also consider the proposals at an extraordinary Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, October 21.