Doncaster Airport: PM Truss fights closure as parliament calls for public takeover

Now Prime Minister Liz Truss has weighed into the argument over the closure of Doncaster Airport, pledging “to do all I can”. This follows a call by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation take the airport into public ownership, following the example of Teesside International Airport.

The current owner of Doncaster Airport, Peel Group, has said it wants to ‘wind down’ aviation at the airport before the end of October prior to closing it completely. Peel Group wants to expand the adjacent GatewayEast business and residential development onto the site.

Speaking to BBC Look North, Ms Truss said: “I want to make sure that airport survives. I will do what I can, and I will talk to the relevant people.” Watch here.

The full statement given to FLYER by the APPG-GA spokesperson Matthew Bolshaw MBE, said:

“Towns and cities across the UK need to appreciate that, in an increasingly interconnected world, losing an airport is an event which can never be reversed. The loss of connectivity can be economically and socially damaging and should be avoided.

“The APPG therefore encourages all those involved and particularly the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) and Doncaster Council to follow the excellent example of the Tees Valley Mayor – Ben Houchen – who arranged for Tees Valley Combined Authority to purchase Durham Tees Valley Airport when similar circumstances applied.”

Ben Houchen was elected on a promise to take ownership of Durham Tees Vally Airport airport from Stobart Group who planned to close it. He succeeded in 2018, renamed it Teesside International, brought in new low-cost airline routes and plans to reach 1.4 million passengers by 2029.

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced just this week that Teesside International Airport is in the running to become one of the UK’s first New Investment Zones.

Ben Houchen said, “These investment zones would be gamechangers for Teesside, with the potential to create high-wage jobs, secure millions of pounds of investment, and rejuvenate town centres in Middlesbrough and Hartlepool to ones we can be proud of.”

The masterplan for GatewayEast still shows the airport as a key asset. Will investors still be as keen without an air connection?

Doncaster Mayor Ros Jones has not given up on the airport yet, saying it’s not too late for a U-turn by Peel Group.

She said, “Peel’s decision and their wholly reluctant approach throughout the last 10 weeks has been completely uncompromising and unreasonable.

“It is now clear that Peel was never seriously interested in looking at the opportunities offered to them which have been developed at pace and in good faith, preferring to close the airport and seek to develop the land for other uses which could generate greater commercial value for them and their shareholders.

“I would urge Peel that it is not too late to do the right thing and reconsider their decision for the sake of those employees, businesses and communities directly impacted by this appalling decision.”

Jones also said there were  several significant and seriously interested parties in the airport which wanted to be part of its future.

Doncaster Sheffield Airport was formerly RAF Finningley and founded in 1915. It was sold off by the Ministry of Defence and reopened as a commercial airport in 2005.

Doncaster Sheffield Airport