Airport wants business rate break

The airport has applied to have business rates scrapped for five years

Doncaster's Robin Hood Airport has applied to have its business rate payments to the local council scrapped for the next five years.

The airport now handles over a million passengers a year flying to over 50 destinations.

Officials have now lodged an appeal over the rates with Doncaster Council after an initial request was rejected.

Airport chiefs said they were surprised the council had put details of the application in the public domain.

Doncaster Council did not respond to a request for a comment on the application.

Subsidy

Jeff Gazzard of the Aviation Environment Federation said: "Regional airports like Robin Hood Airport probably need to get to two or three million passengers before they can even break even.

"That's the difficulty, just over a million passengers which sounds a lot particularly from starting from nothing.

"It's this whole question of subsidy.

"You have to give discounts to attract airlines, you have to give money off landing fees, you have to give them discounts in handling charges, you have to give them for a number of years to get them to commit, and that means you don't make any money for quite some time."

But some residents find the idea of the airport being given a business rate payment "holiday" difficult to understand.

One man said: "It's a business isn't it? All businesses pay rates, so they should do as well."

In its statement the airport said: "We are surprised that Doncaster Council has chosen to place details of the application in the public domain, ahead of the due process unfolding.

"Not wishing to prejudice the process that Doncaster Council has put in place, it is not our intention to rehearse details of the application in the press.

"Following completion of the application, we would look to comment further, as appropriate at that time."

The application is due to be heard by the council later in October.