Political leadership of the City of Doncaster Council have voted to accept hundreds of millions in public funds to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA).
The five-strong council cabinet, led by Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones, gave approval to welcome £175million in grant funding from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA).
Cabinet also approved the council’s financial plan for Fly Doncaster Ltd, the company wholly-owned and set up by Doncaster Council to manage DSA, detailing the proposed business activity and financials for the next 24 years.
Speaking in the meeting, Mayor Jones said: “Fully reopening Doncaster Sheffield Airport is my number one priority.
“As I have said previously, this is the people’s airport and in the medium to long-term it can be the jewel in the crown of the Doncaster and South Yorkshire economy.”
The process to reopen DSA now faces its final significant hurdle within the council.
Reopening requires an additional £57m of borrowing to address cashflow issues surrounding the gainshare funding in the SYMCA grant.
Because the proposed borrowing is a significant change to the council’s budget, agreed in February 2025, it requires approval from full council, of which Reform UK holds the majority.
A senior officer within Doncaster Council said that a deferral or rejection of the borrowing by full council would “kill” the reopening project and DSA would not return.
“This is the largest single investment in Doncaster for more than a generation, with unrivalled economy opportunities for our residents and businesses. It has gone through scrutiny and extensive due diligence over the last 12 months and now I just want to see our airport fully reopened,” Mayor Jones said.
The report reveals DSA is projected to make £81m in losses over its first nine years after reopening.
However, after this period, it is projected to make over £230m in pre-tax and interest profit up to 2049.
Cabinet papers additionally revealed the total cost to reopen DSA would be £193m. A total which is covered by the SYMCA grant and Doncaster Council’s own contribution.
The Mayor continued: “Whilst passenger and freight forecasts are scoped at a lower level, of which some would consider prudent, these would rise as the profitability of the airport grows. There is also 20% contingency baked into the funding scenario.
“The funding provided to FlyDoncaster Ltd is a loan from CDC, paid in part through the SYMCA funding approved in September. These loans to FlyDoncaster are set to be repaid to CDC with interest.
“The report also sets out that the Airport and Gateway East will bring in considerable Business Rates which have not been included within the financial modelling before us today. With the Investment Zone Designation and the ability to generate and use business rates, over the 25-year plan this could result in around £300m of income, of which 75% would be retained by CDC.”
Council officials will now work to finalise the grant agreement with SYMCA. Once done, the funding will be given to Fly Doncaster Ltd (FDL) in the form of a loan.
Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee were told on Monday that the loan agreement with FDL would hold a number of parameters to prevent further losses.
The report to cabinet was welcomed by each of the four other members.
Cllr David Nevett, cabinet member for adults, wellbeing and culture, said: “We’ve seen a successful airport close… Doncaster Airport is a growth-generator and it will spur on Doncaster and its residents and businesses.”
He said there was “no other plan” to bring jobs and investment to Doncaster on the scale projected for DSA.
Full council will be asked to approve the £57m of borrowing at the next meeting on November 27, 2025.
