South Yorkshire's Mayor confirms no passenger flights expected at DSA until 2028
Oliver Coppard made the announcement yesterday
Doncaster Sheffield Airport is unlikely to offer commercial passenger flights until 2028, the South Yorkshire Mayor has said.
In a keynote speech to members of the Doncaster Chamber on Tuesday, Oliver Coppard said reopening Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) was not as simple as it may seem from the outside and was a long-term project.
He said: “We now know that while opening an airport is not a binary process, we’re now unlikely to be at full operational capacity until 2028.
“As a result, we would be unlikely to see commercial passenger flights into or out of DSA before then. Albeit we will of course aim for that to happen sooner.”
Coppard refuted social media commentary that he was not committed to reopening DSA, referring to those who suggest he needs to “F-ing get on with it”.
He said: “Let me be crystal clear, I have always wanted our airport to thrive; to act as a gateway to South Yorkshire, a magnet for investment and a central driver of opportunity for our whole community.
“My commitment to that goal has never simply been an empty promise.”
The Mayor said he had been driven by two “very clear, yet potentially competing imperatives”.
One is the demand to save DSA and “exploit the huge opportunity” the project represents, but the other, he said, was “to protect the interests of taxpayers across South Yorkshire”.
He told the audience: “I have made, and will make, no apology for that approach; for doing the proper due diligence when being asked to potentially spend in excess of £150million of public money, to make real a project that has the potential to be either a huge economic driver, or a significant drain on public funds.”
Coppard said he wanted to highlight work he had already done in the project, including facilitating a visit from the prime minister and deputy prime minister – in which they confirmed a £30m package to support DSA’s reopening.
However, the Mayor added: “At this point I still cannot say we will be reopening DSA and creating a world leading sustainable aviation hub at Gateway East. There are still challenges for us to overcome.”
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has previously confirmed the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority has set a date for Coppard’s decision on whether to release gainshare funding for the project.
The Mayor’s decision will be announced on September 9, 2025, when a meeting of the Mayoral Combined Authority Board will take place.
Coppard did not confirm what the decision will be, but the 2028 projection for commercial flights will be disappointing for those hopeful for the Spring 2026 reopening touted by Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones.
Following Coppard’s speech, a spokesperson for the Mayor Jones said: “Technically DSA is already open again with 2Excel planes back using the runway, but in relation to freight and passenger flights it will be a gradual re-opening.
“There of course remains a number of interdependencies. Once we have the Gainshare decision signed off in early September we can finalise our plans, including progressing with the Airspace and signing-up airlines and freight providers.”