'Never give up, never surrender'; Doncaster seeks support to reopen its airport: part one

'Never give up, never surrender' was the mantra of the 'Thermians' in the cult 1999 Star Trek spoof movie 'Galaxy Quest', and it seems to have rubbed off on the burghers of Doncaster in northern England, who are committed not to let their local airport die without a fight.

A decision by Wizz Air to close its base there in 2022 finished the airport off, since what remained was insufficient to cover costs, according to its private sector owner. But the council is dogmatically pursuing its objective of reopening the airport - ideally under its control and with private sector operational and financial cooperation.

The question is: which organisations are interested today in small regional airports like this? Two decades ago it would have been snapped up rapidly. For most of today's big players it is insignificant. But history has shown that there is always a potential buyer, and there are some candidates both in the UK and externally.

This is part one of a two-part report.