"We are reopening": Council leaders agree £160m in funding for Doncaster Sheffield Airport
It's a big step forward for plans to reopen the travel hub
Last updated 9th Sep 2025
South Yorkshire council leaders have unanimously agreed to put £160m of public money towards the reopening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
At a meeting earlier today officials, including Mayor Oliver Coppard, agreed to add to the £16m already committed to developing the plan.
Doncaster Sheffield Airport closed in 2022 after previous operator, Peel Group, decided to pull out.
Since then a new potential operator, Munich Airport International, has agreed to take on the travel hub.
Initially leaders were targeting a reopening of early next year however over the summer it emerged that neither commercial not passenger flights would be taking off until at least 2028.
South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard, said: “We’re reopening DSA. Today, we’ve made a historic decision; to invest in the plans to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport, and to create a sustainable aviation and advanced manufacturing hub at Gateway East.
“I’ve always said I wanted to reopen DSA, but we needed to know exactly what the plan looked like.
"That’s why we’ve taken the time and done the work. No plan of this size or scale is ever easy, or without risks, but today we’ve taken a bold step forward, backed by data, expertise, and a shared vision for the type of South Yorkshire we want to build, because DSA is a unique opportunity.
“The plan we have backed today is about more than holiday flights or passenger numbers, it’s a long-term commitment to drive jobs, growth and opportunities in sustainable aviation, advanced manufacturing, freight, and even the defence sector, here in South Yorkshire.”
Mayor of City of Doncaster Council Ros Jones, said: “This is an important day in our airport’s story. Today we have taken a huge step forward towards fully reopening our airport."
"Over the last three years this airport has been the number one question on the doorstep, in the pub and across our communities.
“This project is not simply to reopen our airport for passenger flights, it’s about the wider economic impacts, creating a hub for aviation related industry, delivering jobs and opportunities for our residents and putting Doncaster back on the map.”