Doncaster Sheffield airport (DSA) is to close later this year, its owners have confirmed, despite the offer of financial aid from public funds.
Local politicians said they were devastated by the decision by the Peel Group, which leaves hundreds of staff facing redundancy and comes days after the new prime minister, Liz Truss, said she had instructed ministers to protect the airport.
The Peel Group, which had extended a public consultation period by 10 days, said a strategic review had ended without any clear proposals on the airport site’s financial viability, or a potential buyer.
Peel said the high costs of running Doncaster Sheffield, whose flight numbers have fallen by more than half since 2019, meant the airport would start winding down operations from 31 October.
The company is in consultation with staff, with hundreds of people working at the airport at risk of losing their jobs.
Local politicians hit out at the decision. South Yorkshire’s mayor, Oliver Coppard, said: “I’m devastated by today’s announcement by Peel and angry about the impact it will have on our communities.”
He said he hoped the prime minister would intervene. “Liz Truss said she would protect the airport. Now is the moment to turn those words into action.”
Coppard said the airport had received public money for years but had turned down the offer of continued support, as well as the chance to meet potential news investors.
He said: “The fact that they chose to turn our offer down simply confirms what many of us suspected: that Peel was never serious about finding an alternative and safeguarding the future of DSA.
“It is still not too late for them to do the right thing; for them to reconsider their decision for the sake of those employees, businesses and communities directly impacted by this appalling decision.”
Peel Group said it had received a letter from the mayor’s office earlier this month, saying a group interested in buying the airport had come forward, but it had not received any more details about this potential purchaser.
The company added: “Regretfully, no tangible proposals have been received regarding the ownership of the airport or which address the fundamental lack of financial viability.”
Peel said the offer of public funds to cover its operating losses until the end of October 2023, while a new owner was found, would be an inappropriate way to spend public money “against the backdrop of an unviable, loss-making operating business”.
The airport opened in 2005, converted by Peel from the former RAF Finningley airbase. The owners have said that DSA never attracted near enough passengers to be profitable.
The airport was hit by the collapse in air travel during the Covid-19 pandemic and the loss of flights from two budget airlines, Flybe and Wizz Air. Flybe went bust in early 2020 and Wizz Air ceased flights from DSA in June, leaving Tui as the only carrier using its facilities.
According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, about 4,600 flights took off from DSA in 2019, mainly Wizz Air and Flybe, but just 1,817 were scheduled in 2021.
