A rally is scheduled before an extraordinary Doncaster council meeting to revoke a £57m loan to fund the re-opening of Doncaster-Sheffield Airport (DSA).
Organised by Trade Unions Congress (TUC) and GMB Union, protesters will gather outside Civic Offices in Sir Nigel Gresley Square at 9am on 11 May to show their support for saving DSA.
Dave Pike, Regional Secretary for TUC in the North East, Yorkshire and Humber, said that cancelling the loan would be a ‘hammer blow’ to South Yorkshire’s economy.
He said: “They are putting those jobs that are already there at risk, and really importantly, the millions that the taxpayer has already put into the airport to get it open.”
TUC held a rally 29 April to support re-opening the airport and Mr Pike said that the ‘overwhelming support’ shows how important DSA is to the community.
He said: “We had people at the rally last week from all around the country who’d come specifically because they wanted to support that demonstration.
“Our local people from around South Yorkshire want to see an airport opening… to offer the ability to travel internationally, the ability to travel from closer to home.”
Reform UK called the urgent meeting to review the November 2025 loan following the leak of a lease agreement between the council and the DSA landowner, the Peel Group.
The party claimed in agenda papers that the lease was approved with ‘materially incomplete information’.
In Barnsley last week, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said that the party’s Doncaster councillors do want DSA to re-open however, any ‘future liability’ needs to be considered.
He said: “What [the councillors] don’t want is masses more debt being put onto a council that is already in deep financial trouble. So what they need to do is find a private sector solution.
“They’re prepared to take risk.”
South Yorkshire Mayor, Oliver Coppard, approved a £160m funding package back in September 2025 in support of re-opening the airport.
In a Facebook post, Coppard said that the council was aware of the ‘risks’ involved in reopening DSA, and warned that attempts from Reform councillors to cancel that funding would ‘kill the project’.
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority have declined to comment at this stage.
Last week, DSA welcomed the Boeing 727, which became the first large jet landing since closing in 2022.
Feature image: Cosmo Southall