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Doncaster Sheffield Airport: Calls for consultation to be extended

BBC Sign at Doncaster Sheffield AirportBBC
A six-week consultation into the future of Doncaster Sheffield Sirport was launched in July

The owners of Doncaster Sheffield Airport have been urged to extend a consultation on the future of the site.

Peel Group has begun a six-week consultation after saying the airport "may no longer be commercially viable".

But politicians in South Yorkshire want the deadline pushed back to the end of 2022 and have asked the firm to outline all the options being considered.

Meanwhile, South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard said he has not ruled out public ownership of the airport.

The BBC has approached Peel Group for a comment

In a letter to John Whittaker, chairman of Peel Group, political leaders, including Mr Coppard, and MPs Nick Fletcher, Ed Miliband and Rosie Winterton, said they were "disappointed" with the length of the consultation.

It states: "We encourage Peel Group to extend the consultation period to the end of 2022 to enable meaningful engagement and consideration of options".

It also calls for the owners to "outline all of the options they are open to exploring for the future of the airport", including the sale of the site.

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South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard said politicians are looking at options for the site

Mr Coppard told the BBC he has not ruled out public ownership of the airport, but believes the best option would be for a private operator to run the site.

He said: "We want to work with Peel Group to understand what the situation is on the ground, what they have faced financially, what they have invested and everything else so that we can understand how that airport could or should be working.

"There's no doubt there are some challenges in the aviation industry," he added.

Speaking in July Peel Group said the airport had "never achieved the critical mass required to become profitable", citing recent problems including Covid-19 and the impact of airline Wizz Air cancelling flights.

Teesside International Airport was formerly owned by Peel Group and brought back into public ownership in 2019.

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