Race against time to renegotiate Doncaster Sheffield Airport lease
Plans to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport could be at risk if negotiations over the site’s lease are not successful.
Doncaster Council officials are against the clock to renegotiate the Doncaster Sheffield Airport lease, after sources say officers predict to “run out of money” for the project in September 2026.
The revelations come after a private briefing for councillors on the City of Doncaster Council on July 1, 2026.
Following the briefing, sources shared a summary of what councillors were told, which read: “Renegotiation of the lease is not complete. Project runs out of money in September.”
They also said the lease needed to be renegotiated by the time the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) Board meets in September 2026 or “it’s over basically”.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the briefing said this was an accurate account of what was shared with councillors.
A City of Doncaster Council spokesperson said: “We do not comment on potential misinterpretations of confidential briefings with councillors.”
However, the council declined to refute or deny any of the information when asked to.
Doncaster Council has been renegotiating the lease with airport operator Peel since September 2025, when the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) stated clauses in the original deemed “favourable to the landowner” must be redone for £160million of funding for the project to be released.
In February 2026, Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones said renegotiations were “almost complete”, whilst Oliver Coppard, Mayor of South Yorkshire, said they had “made progress” in June.
However, details of the renegotiation remain scarce due to their “commercial sensitivity”.
The reopening has so far been sourced from various SYMCA and Government grants and pots.
The £57million loan to support the reopening has not yet been drawn down by the authority, as it must wait for the £160m to be released by SYMCA.