The recently closed Doncaster Sheffield Airport could reopen as soon as April 2023, according to South Yorkshire’s mayor.
A campaign group hoping to save the airport hosted an online Q&A with local mayor Oliver Coppard last Friday, in which Coppard said a takeover deal was being discussed by owners Peel Group and a business consortium from the UAE.
In the discussion with members of the Save Doncaster Sheffield Airport Facebook group, Mr Coppard said that if a takeover deal is finalised, the airport could be operational in April or May next year.
The mayor faced an hour of questions from locals hoping to see the airport revived.
Doncaster Sheffield Airport closed on 5 November, after failing to turn a profit since its opening in 2005. In October, owners Peel Group had told the government that the business was not financially viable.
Crew were reportedly in tears as the last flight departed on Saturday 31 October to Katowice in Poland, signalling the airport’s impending permanent closure.
The creator of the Save Doncaster Sheffield Airport Facebook group, Mark Chadwick, said: “We will be waiting for the investors and Peel to do a deal before we know what’s happening with the future of DSA.
“If all goes well and a deal is done the airport could be open to passenger travel by April/May time.
“If all fails, talks stop and no purchase happens, then Doncaster Council and South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority are prepared to take this further and carry out a Compulsory Purchase Order on the airport site.”
Days before it closed, Doncaster Sheffield topped Which? Travel’s list of best UK airports.
The Yorkshire airport saw an 85 per cent score, based on individual features such as queues, baggage reclaim waits, shops, seating and toilets.
According to Which?, “travellers praised the ‘fantastic, helpful staff’ and ‘faultless service’”, awarding Doncaster’s employees a full five stars.
“The airport also scooped five star ratings for queues through security and at baggage reclaim, as well as for seating and toilet facilities, with one respondent enthusing their experience was ‘how air travel should be’,” said the team.
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