South Yorkshire’s Mayoral Combined Authority has approved £160 million in funding to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport, setting a timetable that foresees freight operations resuming in the summer of 2026 and a full passenger service restart by the end of 2027.
Leaders from Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster, together with South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard, voted in favour of the financial support, Doncaster Council said. The funding follows three years in which the regional airport has been largely derelict after its owner, Peel Group, closed operations in 2022 and described the business as unviable.
Doncaster Sheffield previously served about 1.4 million passengers a year across roughly 54 destinations. Local officials said the immediate focus will be on restoring essential infrastructure and regulatory approvals that were removed or suspended after the closure, including radar, air traffic control, fire services and an airspace redesign with the Civil Aviation Authority.
City of Doncaster officials and Fly Doncaster, the organisation set up to manage the airport, said they would begin advertising senior managerial roles this week as part of wider recruitment to rebuild operations. Munich Airport International has been named a strategic partner in the reopening plan.
Doncaster Mayor Ros Jones said officials aimed to have bookings open before the end of 2026 and to offer holidays for the 2027–28 winter season, while freight flights would return sooner because of logistical demand. "I have said all along that I want our airport to fully reopen as soon as possible," she said, and characterised the airport as a potential catalyst for regional economic growth.
Officials stressed the reopening will require staged approvals and significant preparatory work. The airport operator and local authorities must complete technical and safety inspections, re-establish regulatory oversight, and coordinate the redesign of controlled airspace with the CAA. Those processes will determine the exact timing for passenger services.
The airport closed in 2022 after Peel Group declared it unviable, citing commercial challenges. Since then, the site has been largely unused, and local leaders have pursued various options to revive aviation and freight activity. The newly approved funding is intended to support capital works, regulatory compliance and initial operating costs associated with restarting services.
Regional leaders framed the investment as part of broader economic development plans. They said reopening the airport could support jobs, trade and tourism across South Yorkshire, though officials cautioned the project will progress in stages and be contingent on meeting safety and regulatory requirements.
The first tranche of recruitment for senior operational roles will begin immediately, officials said, with further hires and infrastructure work to follow subject to regulatory milestones. Freight flights are targeted to resume in mid-2026 and passenger bookings to be available before the end of that year if the required approvals and infrastructure restorations proceed on schedule.