Government urged to act to save Doncaster Sheffield airport

Ministers have been told the government has just “hours to intervene” to stop the closure of Doncaster Sheffield airport.

Peel Group, the owner of the South Yorkshire hub, said operations would wind down from the end of October as it was not financially viable.

Speaking in a debate on Monday night (October 25), Labour MPs said the government was not doing enough to save the airport.

But transport minister Katherine Fletcher said the government had held talks with Peel multiple times, reported the BBC.

Stephanie Peacock, Labour MP for Barnsley East, said the airport was a valuable regional economic asset and “thousands of jobs” depended on it.

“Despite Peel Group announcing its closure, local leaders have made every effort to work with the group and to work with the government to secure the airport’s future,” she said.

She said investors needed certainty in the next 24 hours, added the BBC report.

“It is now imperative that ministers step up, take action and use their powers to do everything that they can to save Doncaster Sheffield airport,” she said.

Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh, Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley, claimed the government had refused to meet South Yorkshire’s mayor, Oliver Coppard, and other regional leaders.

Ms Fletcher said ministers had met with the airport owners, adding: “The implication that we are not doing everything to find a solution for regional airports that we recognise are incredibly important is not a correct one.”

Several Labour MPs also urged the government to use the Civil Contingencies Act to buy the airport, but the minister said that was for “absolute emergencies only”.

The Conservative MP for Don Valley, Nick Fletcher, criticised South Yorkshire’s Mayoral Combined Authority.