Doncaster MP in talks with TUI over airport re-opening following Ryanair invite

Doncaster East and Isle of Axholme Labour MP Lee Pitcher revealed the talks in an update to constituents.

He said: “Yesterday, I chaired the latest meeting of the DSA Action Group, where we sat down with TUI’s UK & Ireland commercial director.

"It was a productive discussion, and we’ll continue to work with TUI, other key stakeholders, and push the Government to keep Doncaster Sheffield Airport firmly on the agenda.”

Last week, Mr Pitcher announced that Ryanair has been invited to talks.

Mr Pitcher said the airline, which has previously suggested returning to DSA would be “a hard sell” has agreed to meet with the company which will manage the airport on behalf of City of Doncaster Council.

Writing on social media, Mr Pitcher said: “I chaired a positive DSA Action Group meeting with Ryanair, represented by their Head of Public Affairs.

“We discussed Ryanair’s position on Doncaster Sheffield Airport — and I’m pleased that they’ve agreed to be introduced to Fly Doncaster, the company that will manage the airport in partnership with international operator Munich International.

“I’ll keep working with colleagues here in Westminster to put DSA at the heart of the government’s and key stakeholders priorities.”

In January, the boss of Ryanair refused to rule out returning his company’s flights to DSA – but admitted being based at the site was “a hard sell.”

Boss Michael O’Leary said that returning to the former RAF Finningley site was not in the company’s current plans for the UK – and said the Labour Government’s increase in Air Passenger Duty (APD) was likely to see the Irish firm avoiding bringing its planes to Doncaster.

But he hinted that if the APD hike was scrapped, Ryanair could consider basing flights in the city.

In a press conference with Sky News, when asked if his firm was looking at Doncaster, he replied: “Oh Jesus,” before adding: “Doncaster is a hard sell.

“We used to fly Doncaster. There isn’t much of a traffic based there – it’s close to Leeds Bradford.

"Leeds Bradford has grown rapidly with us and Jet2 in the last five or six years.

"I think its a very tough sell for somewhere like Doncaster in the shadow of Leeds Bradford.

"I wish them well but its certainly not part of our growth plans in the UK – which isn’t to say we wouldn’t put some flights back into Doncaster if APD was scrapped.

"We certainly would look at it if it was the price of scrapping APD, we would guarantee to put flights back into Doncaster.”

Mr O’Leary has previously condemned Labour’s APD on short-haul low fare air travel by £2 per passenger, saying it will further burden ordinary UK families travelling abroad on holidays or to visit friends and families.

Meanwhile, City of Doncaster Council remains committed to reopening the airport by the spring of 2026.

It comes after South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard told the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) AGM he expects to make a decision on releasing gainshare funding for the project in “early September”.

The new timeline is another delay for the project, after the decision was initially estimated for the summer.

Despite the setbacks, the Doncaster Mayor’s plans to have flights in the air in the first half of 2026 remains in place.

“The plan remains to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport in Spring 2026,” a spokesperson for Mayor Jones told the Local Democracy Reporting Service, “There of course remain a number of interdependencies.

“Once we have the Gainshare decision signed off in early September we can finalise our plans, including progressing with our Airspace, signing-up airlines and freight providers and to employ and train the hundreds of staff required to operate an airport.”

Should Oliver Coppard approve the funding in September 2025, it would leave eight months for the project to be ready by the end of spring in May 2026.

Mayor Jones welcomed what she called Mayor Coppard’s “commitment” to a decision in September and said the funding was crucial for the South Yorkshire Airport City project.

She said in a statement: “I must emphasise the importance of the Gainshare decision in early September and swift release of Gainshare funding alongside the £30m from Government that the Prime Minister announced in April.

“We are at a critical point, where we need this certainty of funding in order to continue our plans to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport.”

In his announcement to the SYMCA meeting, Oliver Coppard said he understood residents are getting frustrated with the lengthy decision process, but added: “we have to get it right – it’s £150m of taxpayers’ money”.