Doncaster Sheffield Airport in talks with major freight operator as reopening faces uncertainty
Potential deal could bring 20 weekly flights, but funding row could threaten the airport’s future
The City of Doncaster Council’s arms-length company, Fly Doncaster Ltd (FDL), is in “advanced talks” with a major freight operator, which could bring 20 flights per week to Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
In a statement to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), FDL claimed this “major international business” could move up to 80,000 tonnes of freight through the airport each year – nearly four times the 24,000 tonnes the site saw before closure in 2022.
The statement also claims this operator, which has not been named under the commercial sensitivity of the negotiations, believes it would save £20million-per-annum in its supply chain costs by relocating to DSA.
Christian Foster, director of FDL, said: “We have always said that there is a huge opportunity to expand upon the freight operations here at the airport.
“We know there is significant capacity to increase this, and the interested party would do so more than threefold at a stroke. This demonstrates the significant amount of interest that exists around DSA and the role the airport will play in helping to re-shape the UK supply-chain.”
Simon Hinchley, executive director of airport operations at DSA, added: “We have held very positive discussions over recent weeks, which has included the senior management of this particular organisation visiting the site and talking with us in detail about their requirements and potential volumes.
“Not only do we have the runway, but we have the onward transport links and the land available for warehousing to accommodate a business operation of this scale.”
This announcement from FDL comes as the reopening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport faces a critical moment on May 11, 2026.
Reform UK’s majority on the City of Doncaster Council is expected to rescind approval of a £57m loan, approved in November 2025, which is supporting the reopening.
The party said there were details in the lease between Doncaster Council and the Peel Group, who own the land, that they should have been aware of before it was approved.
Labour figures in South Yorkshire have said doing so will “kill” the project.
The LDRS understands that all councillors in Doncaster had the option to view the lease, under strict conditions of confidentiality, before the November 2025 vote, as it was referenced in the background papers of the decision.
However, Reform UK have repeatedly expressed desire to be able to discuss the lease publicly, which would not be allowed as the document is confidential.
In a recent interview with the LDRS, Mayor Ros Jones said the uncertainty over the airport’s future was a “hindrance” to the renegotiation of the lease, which is required for the South Yorkshire Mayor, Oliver Coppard, to release £160m of funding for the reopening.
National figures have also waded into the row, with the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, telling Reform UK to “stop playing games” over DSA in the House of Commons yesterday.
Reform UK MP Richard Tice has recently said it is Labour and Oliver Coppard that have delayed the project by requiring the lease to be renegotiated over clauses “favourable to the landowner”.
His party leader, Nigel Farage, said in Barnsley on April 22, 2026, that his party would prefer private investment in the airport, to take the risk off of the taxpayer.
At the moment, Doncaster Council is seeking to reopen the airport using public funds, after attempts to find a private investor were unsuccessful.
Before the approval of the loan in November 2025, a joint-statement between Mayor Jones and the then-Reform UK Doncaster leader, Councillor Guy Aston, committed to restarting the search for private investment within six months of DSA’s airspace being reinstated by the Civil Aviation Authority.
During her interview with the LDRS on April 29, 2026, Mayor Ros Jones said she would not give up on reopening the airport, even if Reform UK vote to rescind the loan, adding she would “continue to find any route I can”.
However, she said Reform UK was putting the project in “jeopardy”.