Passenger flights to return to Doncaster Sheffield Airport in Easter 2028, papers reveal
Papers have been published on the Doncaster Council website ahead of a crunch vote on May 11, 2026.
The start date for passenger flights from Doncaster Sheffield Airport has been pushed back again by the City of Doncaster Council.
Agenda papers for an extraordinary meeting of council on May 11, 2026, where councillors will decide whether to rescind the £57million loan supporting the airport’s reopening, revealed the new estimated return date.
The papers state that passenger flights are not expected to begin until Easter 2028, but only if the loan is not rescinded and the project continues as normal.
It represents a further pushback from Doncaster Council, and one that finally brings them in line with the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), who have long suggested passenger flights would not return until well into 2028.
Previously, Doncaster Council had suggested passenger planes would take off in Winter 2027/28, though had previously predicted it would be Spring 2026 before the May 2025 local elections.
Despite this adjustment to the timeline, the agenda papers include lots of information on the future of the airport reopening if the loan is rescinded, as Reform UK has stated it plans to do.
The papers state that if alternative funding is not found, then the land “would have no future as an airport”.
Additionally, it states it would not be possible to find alternative funding quickly enough to continue the reopening on the current timescales – meaning delay to the reopening would be inevitable.
The council would also need to find alternative funding to close the airport project if no funding to continue the reopening is found.
If that funding to close the project isn’t found, the council faces an increase risk of bankruptcy.
Reform UK has long stated it would prefer private investment in the airport – a position reiterated by Nigel Farage during interviews in late April 2026.
However, Reform UK Doncaster is yet to provide any indication of alternative funding options for DSA if they do rescind the loan.