Plans to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) in the United Kingdom (UK) have been given a boost after the local council signed a 125-year lease with the site owners, Peel Group.
The airport, more commonly known as Robin Hood Airport after the famous British lawbreaker, was closed in November 2022 after it became commercially unviable.
Commenting on the closure at the time, Peel Group said: “No tangible proposals have been received regarding the ownership of the airport or which address the fundamental lack of financial viability.”
On March 21, 2024, the mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones, announced that the new lease had been signed following “over a year of detailed and complex negotiations”.
In a statement, Jones said the council is looking for an airport operator to manage the operational airport and hopes to make an announcement regarding a new team later in the spring.
LEASE SIGNED for former Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA)!
— Ros Jones – Mayor of Doncaster (@MayorRos) March 21, 2024
Today I can announce that we have signed a 125-year lease for the former DSA which will help to ensure the future of the airport site with the ambition to see planes flying once more from #Doncaster.#Delivering4Doncaster pic.twitter.com/W8dxruIHkl
“This is a significant day in our ambition to reopen the airport as the lease has been signed. I was determined to find a way to secure the future of aviation in Doncaster and this agreement helps us along the way to reopening our airport and seeing planes taking off once again,” Jones said.
She added: “Let’s look forward to the future with an airport that will help boost the economic and growth fortunes of our city, South Yorkshire and the north. I would also like to thank my fellow South Yorkshire Leaders for backing the efforts of me and this council to save and reopen our airport. This airport is for the whole of South Yorkshire.”
Although Doncaster Sheffield Airport was one of the UK’s fastest growing airports for two years between 2015 and 2017, Peel Group said, only British leisure charter airline TUI was based there towards the end.