We are delighted to share the news with our constituents that a new lease for Doncaster Sheffield Airport has been signed.

We welcome this news and would like to express our profound thanks to Doncaster Mayor Ros Jones and her team, including the Strategic Lead for the airport, Christian Foster, whose work has been invaluable. Mayor Ros Jones and South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard, and their respective offices, have worked tirelessly for over a year in order to get us to this point.

A lot of effort has gone in behind-the-scenes to secure this lease. We know that Doncaster residents have been eager to be updated on the progress of these negotiations. It is right that the Mayors have allowed discussions to progress in private, which has ensured confidential negotiations have been able to be concluded and allows us to bring this great news to you today. What has mattered all the way along to us and to Ros and Oliver is actually getting the job done.

This was a local achievement by our mayors who, despite receiving little support from central Government, were able to successfully advocate for our region and take a really important step towards our airport being reopened to the public. Once again, we thank the whole team for their joint efforts which has seen this through. A terrific accomplishment, made possible by local politicians working together.