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Airport reopening cost set to rise - meeting hears

BBC A sign on the front of the airport building reads Doncaster Sheffield Robin Hood. The white sign is on a glass wall. The building has a grey wavy roof.BBC
South Yorkshire leaders have approved £3m in funding for City of Doncaster Council to continue work on the project

More public money will be needed to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport than expected, senior officers overseeing the project have said.

City of Doncaster Council announced last week a new operator had been identified for the site and said the first passenger flights could take off within 18 months.

The airport has been closed since November 2022 after owners Peel Group said it was not financially viable.

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) has committed £138m towards reopening the airport, but an executive director at the organisation told a meeting there was a "likelihood that greater public investment will be required".

Any further public money will still be within the original £138m but SYMCA had hoped there would be more private investment.

A preferred bidder and "credible international airport operator” had been secured for the site, the authority's board heard.

But a business case for the project highlighted "significant risks," according to SYMCA executive director Gareth Sutton.

He said some of the issues related to a commercial deal that had not yet been concluded and this could mean more public money is needed for the project than expected.

“Public investment will be required to create market conditions to allow for further private investment in the future," he said, adding that would result in a need for greater public control of the airport than initially anticipated.

SYMCA South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard. A smiling man wearing a blue suit and tie and light blue shirt. Behind him is a wall with a colourful mural painted on it.SYMCA
South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard said public money used for the project would need to be protected

South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard said it was crucial to protect public investment.

“We need to do the deal as quickly as we can, but make sure we are getting that deal right, to give the airport the best possible future and the biggest and best chance to succeed," he said.

City of Doncaster Council will need to submit a report to the government that shows the level of support for the project, the meeting was told.

SYMCA agreed to provide the council with £3m to pay for infrastructure and accreditation with the Civil Aviation Authority.

The council has said reopening the airport will create 5,000 jobs and transform the region with an aviation hub.

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