Airport lights set to return as part of reopening
City of Doncaster Council has applied for planning permission to reinstall approach lights at Doncaster Sheffield Airport, a step towards reopening the site. The airport closed in November 2022 after efforts to secure a private operator failed; the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority is now seeking to buy it and nearby land from Peel Group.
The application was submitted on 16 October. If approved, the lights would return to their previous location and use updated technology; approach lighting has served the site for at least 40 years, including during its time as RAF Finningley and the airport’s operation from 2005 to 2022. Fly Doncaster says runway lighting work is also planned in the coming months to prepare for flights and meet safety requirements.
In short
- Doncaster Sheffield Airport has applied to reinstall approach lights.
- The proposal is part of preparations to reopen the closed airport.
- Runway lighting work is also planned in the coming months.
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The case for
Reinstalling the approach lights is a practical step towards reopening an airport that could improve regional connectivity, support jobs and attract investment. Updating the equipment while restoring a long-standing feature of the site may help prepare it to meet current safety requirements and make the wider effort to secure a future operator more credible.
The case against
The lights are one part of a much larger and uncertain reopening effort, and planning approval would not itself secure an operator, flights or lasting public benefits. Given the airport’s previous closure after a private operator could not be secured, a cautious approach would weigh the costs and risks of preparing the site against other ways to support transport links and local economic development.
Explained simply
Doncaster Sheffield Airport is on the site of the former RAF Finningley airbase. It operated as a passenger airport from 2005 until it closed in November 2022, after attempts to find a private company to run it failed.
The site is owned by Peel Group, and the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority is seeking to buy the airport and nearby land. The airport’s future matters to the local area because reopening could restore a regional air link and bring the site back into use.