25 March 2024
2Excel Aviation has welcomed the news that the reopening of Doncaster Airport is a step closer with the signing of a lease to take over the site.
The airport was 2Excel’s main operating base until the closure by Peel Group, the former operator and landowner.
The announcement last week of a 125-year lease by the City of Doncaster followed over a year of ‘detailed and complex negotiations’. The next stage is the appointment of an airport operator to manage the operational airport.
“This is a significant day in our ambition to reopen the airport as the lease has been signed,” said City Mayor Ros Jones.
2Excel, an aviation and aerospace services business, issued a statement saying it supports the local authority’s ambition to reopen the airport.
“Doncaster Airport is a nationally significant, strategic asset that should never have been allowed to close.
“The loss of 2Excel’s Main Operating Base has cost our Company millions of pounds in additional expenses from being forced to relocate our aircraft and engineering functions to a clutch of other airports.
“We are greatly appreciative of the Council’s tireless efforts to take on a lease for the DSA site and its determination to restore commercial air transport.
“While returning Doncaster’s facilities to what we previously enjoyed may take many months, we are together exploring options that would enable unlicensed flights to and from the site, similar to how we operate at Lasham airfield.
“Reopening would see 2Excel restart flight operations from Hangar 3, bringing back high-value, highly-skilled and well-paid jobs to the local area and pave the way to increase our presence at the site to match our Company’s ambitious growth plans.”
