Travel with Katie Butler: Plans to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport in 2026

Katie Butler, Total Travel, writes: Yet here we are, mid-November with a good few weeks to go before the year end and already we have smashed 2023 out of the park. Holidays remain in high demand and our teams are extremely excited for the year end results.

Industry wide we are seeing our colleagues, airlines and tour operators also performing strongly with the desire for a holiday remaining a priority for many.

Jet2holidays, easyJet Holidays and TUI have all reported massive growth versus 2023 with projections for the 2025 season up even more.

Cruise holidays however, are absolutely seeing huge growth, and the number of new-to-cruise passengers has increased by over 12 per cent over the last year.

It really is exciting to see the industry thriving.

I often report which destinations are selling the best week in-week out, with Turkey consistently in the top two. It is therefore with no surprise that for the second year running Turkey has seen a huge increase with UK arrivals rising a huge 17 per cent to 3.7 million in the first nine months of the year, according to official figures. It is certainly the destination with the highest growth at our Total Travel branches.

Incredible also, that last week, marked two years since the final flight touched down at Doncaster Sheffield Airport. November 4, 2022 saw the last flight land at the airport before its closure, operated by TUI and returning from Egypt. However, last week it was revealed that a new operator has been chosen to run the airport and potentially the first few passenger flights could take off in spring 2026.

Doncaster mayor, Ros Jones, confirmed that a bidder to reopen and run the city’s airport has been identified with the aim of flights resuming from spring 2026.

She said: “Reopening our airport is my number one priority and I am delighted to announce that we have reached the major milestone of identifying the bidder to help us reopen our beloved airport. I appreciate that people will want to know who the successful bidder is but at this time we must continue to have discussions with them on a strictly confidential basis.”

The Mayor added: “I will of course share who has been appointed when I can. I know our residents and businesses are keen for the airport to reopen and would want that to happen yesterday but please rest assured we are working as hard as possible to get the airport reopened with the aim of being operational by spring 2026”.

This is fabulous news for everyone involved and of course many of our customers who preferred to fly from the small but efficient airport.

We can’t wait to hear more on this and are beyond excited to find out who the ‘mystery bidder’ could be.

November, December and May 25 were equally the top selling months last week with a ten per cent share each.

Late booking share remained the same at 26 per cent of the total new bookings and cruise share increased to 26 per cent.

Top selling destinations for last week were Tenerife and Turkey with Caribbean cruises creeping into the top three.

Two more weeks to Jet2holidays conference… yes we are on countdown!