The founder of a group campaigning to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) has praised plans to bring the site into public ownership as “the best thing that they could have done”.
It was announced on Monday that South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) was nearing a deal to become the freehold owner, rather than leasing the site from landowner Peel.
Mark Chadwick, founder of the group Save Doncaster Sheffield Airport, said he was “enthusiastic” about the plan, having campaigned since DSA closed in 2022.
Senior councillors will consider the details next week, as SYMCA officers warned the project was “not without risk to the taxpayer given the sums of public funding involved”.
Chadwick said he hoped SYMCA’s announcement would give investors, airlines and cargo operators “confidence” that the project would get off the ground.
“On the airport deal there’s been a lot of different political parties trying to get one over on the other one and whenever that’s happened it’s caused a hiccup,” he said.
Now SYMCA plans to own the site, Chadwick said he anticipated fewer delays to the airport’s reopening.
