Doncaster Sheffield Airport loan twice approved by councillors will no longer be needed after site purchase
The reopening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport faced a crisis in May 2026, when Reform UK Doncaster threatened to rescind approval for this very loan.
A multi-million pound loan twice approved by the City of Doncaster Council will be scrapped if the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) approves the purchase of Doncaster Sheffield Airport, papers have revealed.
Councillors in Doncaster approved a £57million loan to support the airports reopening in November 2025. The same loan was effectively re-approved at an extraordinary meeting May 2026, after the former Reform UK deputy leader, Councillor Jason Charity, initially said his party planned to scrap it.
However, documents published ahead of a meeting of the Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones’, cabinet next week has revealed plans for the SYMCA to buy the airport from the Peel Group would mean the loan is no longer needed.
The document states that buying DSA will ‘remove the requirement for the Council to undertake the borrowing previously approved to support airport operations and associated shareholder funding arrangements’.
Financial details of the proposed purchase of the airport by SYMCA are scarce, but the South Yorkshire Mayor, Oliver Coppard, has committed to sharing the purchase figures once the deal has been finalised and has insisted it is a ‘good deal’.
“This is a deal that puts the future of DSA back in our hands and finally gives one of the biggest and best growth opportunities in South Yorkshire the platform for the long-term success that it needs and deserves,” he said of the purchase.
The deal is subject to approval by the SYMCA Board, on which Doncaster Council is one of five voting members, on October 27, 2026, one day before the Doncaster Council cabinet meeting.