Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has backed plans to re-open Doncaster Sheffield airport, saying the moves would “drive growth across the north”.
Doncaster mayor Ros Jones announced the plans yesterday, saying they would support 5,000 jobs, boost the economy by £5bn and provide wider benefits of £2bn by 2050.
Sir Keir visited Doncaster and said: “I’m really delighted to back the mayor’s plans for Doncaster airport. This airport has sat idle for years. What a waste that this community has had to watch that – their airport sitting empty. That’s not just a huge missed opportunity, it’s a question of history, of pride, of place.
“The first female RAF jet pilot trained right here – that’s history. It’s got the potential to drive growth right across the north, especially obviously here in Doncaster. So, we’re backing the mayor’s plans, backing this region, a sustainable aviation hub in South Yorkshire giving a lift-off for growth here in Doncaster.”
The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) said on Wednesday that it would to use devolved funding to invest in the creation of a sustainable aviation hub. A working group involving Doncaster Council, the South Yorkshire mayoral authority and a number of Government departments has been formed to take the plans forward.
The airport was opened on the site of a former RAF base south of Doncaster in 2005, but closed in 2022.
Since then, South Yorkshire political leaders and business groups have campaigned to reopen the facility as a keystone of wider development plans for the region.
In January, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the Government would back the reopening of the airport as South Yorkshire Airport City.
On his visit to Doncaster, Sir Keir said that people in the north of England have been underestimated by successive governments who have failed the region.
He said: “Getting towns like this to grow, putting more money in your pockets, that’s the biggest thing we can do to take control of our own future.
“For decades now this town, this region, the people of the north, have, in my view, been underestimated. Your ambition, your ingenuity, your pride, has not been backed. Governments have either failed to deliver – that’s what happened with levelling up – or ignored you completely, and that’s what the Tories normally do. Or they believe you can’t control your own destiny. Well, no more. We’re going to back you, we’re going to give you the power to shape your future and devolution is critical here.”
