Six days before councillors decide its fate, fresh agenda papers for the 11 May Doncaster Sheffield Airport vote have put a number on the financial exposure: a quantified £48.6 million in future liabilities for City of Doncaster Council if the project continues, alongside a fresh delay that pushes the return of passenger flights back to Easter 2028.

At a glance

  • What: 33-page agenda papers published ahead of the extraordinary Doncaster Council meeting
  • When the vote happens: Monday 11 May 2026
  • Quantified future liability: £48.6 million
  • New passenger flight estimate: Easter 2028 (delayed from Winter 2027/28)
  • Lease renegotiation status: Passenger and freight target renegotiation completed but not yet signed
  • 20% turnover rent clause: Renegotiation on hold pending the vote

What is in the new papers

The City of Doncaster Council has now published the full agenda for the 11 May extraordinary meeting at which Reform UK and Conservative councillors will move to rescind the £57 million borrowing facility approved in November 2025. The document runs to 33 pages and contains the most detailed financial picture published so far.

According to the papers, if the council proceeds with the reopening project, the quantified future liability to the local authority comes to £48.6 million. That figure has not previously been put on the record at this level of specificity.

The papers also confirm that talks on the airport lease have moved on since the document was leaked in January. Renegotiation of the passenger and freight targets that triggered Reform UK’s concerns is now complete, but the documents to bring those changes into force have not been signed because of the uncertainty created by the upcoming vote. Negotiations on the controversial 20% turnover rent clause are on hold for the same reason.

The new passenger timeline

Until now, the council’s most recent estimate for the return of passenger flights to Doncaster Sheffield Airport was Winter 2027/28. The new papers update that to Easter 2028 – a fresh delay of several months. Passenger flights ceased at the airport in November 2022.

This is conditional on the loan not being rescinded. If the rescission motion succeeds on 11 May, council officers have previously warned that the reopening project itself could collapse.

What it means for Bassetlaw

Doncaster Sheffield Airport sits roughly 20 minutes up the A1 from Worksop and was a significant local employer before its closure. Bassetlaw MP Jo White has been one of the most vocal supporters of the reopening, with more than 2,000 Bassetlaw residents backing her campaign for it to come back into service.

For Worksop residents who used DSA for short-haul travel before 2022, the new Easter 2028 timeline confirms a longer wait than previously hoped – assuming the project survives the 11 May vote at all. A failure to reopen would lock in the status quo for the foreseeable future.

Background

The £57m borrowing facility was approved by Doncaster councillors in November 2025 by 42 votes to nine. Reform UK and Conservative councillors moved to rescind that decision after the airport lease was leaked to journalists in January 2026, arguing they had not had sight of the lease terms when they originally voted. Doncaster Mayor Ros Jones has publicly warned that rescinding the facility would “kill the airport project” and has rejected calls to back down. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has accused Reform UK of betraying the region.

Read our full preview of the 11 May vote →

Worksop Wire will cover the outcome of the 11 May vote.