Doncaster Sheffield Airport to close in blow for levelling up agenda

One of Liz Truss’s first pledges to “red wall” voters has been left in tatters after the owner of Doncaster Sheffield Airport said the business would close down despite promises of a taxpayer bailout.

The Prime Minister told the Commons earlier this month that the Government would “protect this airport and this infrastructure”. Regional airports are vital to her economic growth plans, she said.

But Peel Group, owned by shopping centre billionaire John Whittaker, said on Monday that the South Yorkshire airport was no longer financially viable. The airport’s 800 staff are now facing redundancy.

Beckie Hart, CBI director for Yorkshire & Humber, said the closure was a “serious blow” to the region.

The Labour-run South Yorkshire local authority offered to bankroll the airport until October 2023 and claimed it had teed up a potential buyer.

Peel said that it had received a letter from the mayor’s office earlier this month saying that it had a bidder waiting in the wings, but had not received any further information.

It added that it would be inappropriate to use taxpayer funds to keep the airport afloat "against the backdrop of an unviable, loss-making operating business".

Steven Underwood, Peel Group chief executive, said: "We will not accept any public sector grant to cover the costs of an airport that is not viable due to its lack of adequate forward revenues and high operating costs."

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."

Liz Truss’s pledge during her first Prime Minister’s questions left local politicians confident that a rescue would be pulled off.

Number 10 ordered Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Transport Secretary, to begin talks with stakeholders.

Conservative Don Valley MP Nick Fletcher told the Yorkshire Post at the time: “It’s an extremely powerful statement.”

Doncaster-Sheffield airport welcomed almost 1.5m passengers before the pandemic. But Peel Group launched a review of the airport’s options after budget airline Wizz Air pulled out in July, leaving it with one major carrier: Tui.