Huge boost in bid to reopen much-loved UK airport

A MUCH-LOVED UK airport that was forced to close last year has been given a welcome boost following a battle to reopen it.

Doncaster Sheffield Airport launched its last flight back in November 2022, before closing down.

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Peel Group, who owns the airport, said it was no longer “financially viable” to keep it running.

However, a campaign to reopen the airport has since been launched.

And South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard has agreed to help fund the council’s bid to allow the airport to reopen and relaunch flights.

The council has been given £3.1million by the mayor to support the legal action again Peel Group to sell the airport back to them.

Mr Coppard said it was the “last, best hope” to take control of the airport.

He added: “Across South Yorkshire we are determined to do everything we can to bring Doncaster Sheffield Airport back into use, and to make it the thriving regional airport we know it can be.”

A protection order has also been granted, the BBC reports, which prevents any of the airport from being demolished during the ongoing action.

Doncaster Mayor Ros Jones previously said the fight for the airport was “not over”.

She said: “The acquisition process will take time and it will not be cheap.

“However, this airport has the potential to be the jewel in the crown of the Doncaster and South Yorkshire economy.”

Doncaster Sheffield Airport first opened in 2005, and even won best UK Airport following a Which? study.

With flights to European hotspots such as Tenerife and Lanzarote, it was the 29th biggest airport in the UK.

However, the airport went into decline after airline Wizz Air, who operated a majority of the flights pulled out.

Just TUI flights were left in operation before its closure in 2022.

It’s not just Doncaster Sheffield Airport that hopes to reopen in the UK.

Other UK airports could soon reopen too.

Plymouth Airport could reopen to the public after being closed for more than a decade.

And Manston Airport in Kent is being rebuilt with hopes to relaunch passenger flights.

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