Airport unveils £10m investment and renews plea over rail station
A MULTI-MILLION pound re-development for one of Yorkshire’s airports is being unveiled today as the Government is urged to boost the region’s transport links to unlock tens of thousands of jobs.
The plans for Doncaster Sheffield Airport will see a £10m investment in its terminal to help cope with the growth in passenger numbers.
The airport’s owners have also today renewed a plea to the Government to commit to a new £300m railway station on the East Coast Mainline to provide easier access to the site, with predictions the move would help create 33,000 jobs over a decade.
If successful, Doncaster Sheffield would be only the second airport in the UK to have direct mainline rail access.
Aviation Minister Paul Maynard is due to visit the airport today to learn more about the planned re-development, which comes after The Yorkshire Post revealed this month that Leeds Bradford Airport plans its own major re-development.
The proposals for the ambitious scheme for the Leeds Bradford site will see its existing terminal demolished and replaced with a new facility that will cost as much as £150m.
Doncaster Sheffield Airport’s chairman, Robert Hough, said: “We are pleased the Aviation Minister recognises our position as a key part of the solution for the UK’s aviation needs and addressing the imbalance of just 1.2 seats per head of population in Yorkshire versus 10 in the South.
“We are committed to delivering the opportunity here which with the right support from government can start making an impact on people’s lives in the North now, not years ahead.”
The planned re-development would include expanding arrivals hall, security search areas and retail as well as introducing new gate bridges. The airport serves 55 destinations and hopes to increase passenger numbers to 4.7m per year by 2037.