Doncaster Sheffield Airport Strategic Review Announcement

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Forums4airports discusses the latest press release from Doncaster Sheffield airport where the airport questions the future of the airport. The owners of the airport, the Peel Group have announced they are looking at their options as the group has decided the airport is no longer viable as an operational airport. Here's the press release:

"The Board of Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) has begun a review of strategic options for the Airport. This review follows lengthy deliberations by the Board of DSA which has reluctantly concluded that aviation activity on the site may no longer be commercially viable.

DSA’s owner, the Peel Group, as the Airport’s principal funder, has reviewed the conclusions of the Board of DSA and commissioned external independent advice in order to evaluate and test the conclusions drawn, which concurs with the Board’s initial findings.

Since the Peel Group acquired the Airport site in 1999 and converted it into an international commercial airport, which opened in 2005, significant amounts have been invested in the terminal, the airfield and its operations, both in relation to the original conversion and subsequently to improve the facilities and infrastructure on offer to create an award winning airport.

However, despite growth in passenger numbers, DSA has never achieved the critical mass required to become profitable and this fundamental issue of a shortfall in passenger numbers is exacerbated by the announcement on 10 June 2022 of the unilateral withdrawal of the Wizz Air based aircraft, leaving the Airport with only one base carrier, namely TUI.

This challenge has been increased by other changes in the aviation market, the well-publicised impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasingly important environmental considerations. It has therefore been concluded that aviation activity may no longer be the use for the site which delivers the maximum economic and environmental benefit to the region. Against this backdrop, DSA and the Peel Group, will initiate a consultation and engagement programme with stakeholders on the future of the site and how best to maximise and capitalise on future economic growth opportunities for Doncaster and the wider Sheffield City Region.

The wider Peel Group is already delivering significant development and business opportunities on its adjoining GatewayEast development including the recent deal for over 400,000 sq ft logistics and advanced manufacturing development on site, creating hundreds of new jobs and delivering further economic investment in the region.

Robert Hough, Chairman of Peel Airports Group, which includes Doncaster Sheffield Airport, said: “It is a critical time for aviation globally. Despite pandemic related travel restrictions slowly drawing to a close, we are still facing ongoing obstacles and dynamic long-term threats to the future of the aviation industry. The actions by Wizz to sacrifice its base at Doncaster to shore up its business opportunities at other bases in the South of England are a significant blow for the Airport.

Now is the right time to review how DSA can best create future growth opportunities for Doncaster and for South Yorkshire. The Peel Group remains committed to delivering economic growth, job opportunities and prosperity for Doncaster and the wider region.”


DSA and the Peel Group pride themselves on being forward-thinking whilst prioritising the welfare of staff and customers alike. As such, no further public comments will be made whilst they undertake this engagement period with all stakeholders.
During the Strategic Review, the Airport will operate as normal. Therefore passengers who are due to travel to the airport, please arrive and check in as normal. If there are any disruptions with your flight, you will be contacted by your airline in good time.
For all press enquiries, please contact Charlotte Leach at [email protected]."

"Not great news for DSA or the region"

Should the government or local council foot the bill and provide a financial subsidy to keep the airport open, thoughts...?
 
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Maersk has air cargo division.
Maersk Air Cargo, formerly Star Air.
They do, but as mentioned earlier they have for years been using EMA. Maersk inland hubs are for bulk container goods arriving by ship and rail. They are not related in any way to the air cargo business. The Doncaster one is an inland hub along with a number of others that are nowhere near airports either.
 
They do, but as mentioned earlier they have for years been using EMA. Maersk inland hubs are for bulk container goods arriving by ship and rail. They are not related in any way to the air cargo business. The Doncaster one is an inland hub along with a number of others that are nowhere near airports either.

Ros Jones has released another update.

Lease - the council asked for the lease to be valid for a ‘significant number of years’, Peel have apparently returned with another offer which the DCC ‘property and aviation advisors’ are currently drafting a response to.

Article 4 - diatribe.

Airspace - they are again pushing the CAA, despite the CAA sending a very reasonable response to DCC on 20th September;


So in spite of the CAA actually stating that they have no remit to ‘safeguard’ the airport, the Council still keep releasing statements highlighting how they are continuing to apply pressure on the CAA. Who exactly are their ‘aviation advisors’? I’d recommend some new ones on the basis of what we’re seeing in these press releases. How can the CAA withhold the airspace closure procedure when the site is nowhere near being an airport? It’s even pretty evident in the letter that the CAA have alluded to much more pertinent considerations that any would be DSA operator would need to make before applying for controlled airspace.
 
Ros Jones has released another update.

Lease - the council asked for the lease to be valid for a ‘significant number of years’, Peel have apparently returned with another offer which the DCC ‘property and aviation advisors’ are currently drafting a response to.

Article 4 - diatribe.

Airspace - they are again pushing the CAA, despite the CAA sending a very reasonable response to DCC on 20th September;


So in spite of the CAA actually stating that they have no remit to ‘safeguard’ the airport, the Council still keep releasing statements highlighting how they are continuing to apply pressure on the CAA. Who exactly are their ‘aviation advisors’? I’d recommend some new ones on the basis of what we’re seeing in these press releases. How can the CAA withhold the airspace closure procedure when the site is nowhere near being an airport? It’s even pretty evident in the letter that the CAA have alluded to much more pertinent considerations that any would be DSA operator would need to make before applying for controlled airspace.
Did Ros Jones and her 'advisors' actually meet with the CAA then?

It's worth noting that airports are currently designing new airspace procedures, including possible new arrivals and departures routings, some of which may impact on what was DSA controlled airspace. It is totally ridiculous for these proposals to be shelved or amended just so DSAs airspace is protected into the future.

The CAA seem to clearly set out the position and what any future new operator at DSA would have to do to re-instate the airspace, so what exactly is Ros Jones on about ?
 
Did Ros Jones and her 'advisors' actually meet with the CAA then?

It's worth noting that airports are currently designing new airspace procedures, including possible new arrivals and departures routings, some of which may impact on what was DSA controlled airspace. It is totally ridiculous for these proposals to be shelved or amended just so DSAs airspace is protected into the future.

The CAA seem to clearly set out the position and what any future new operator at DSA would have to do to re-instate the airspace, so what exactly is Ros Jones on about ?
It’s not clear, as it would appear that the letters dated December (error in my previous post) were not actually added to the website until 23rd April, so perhaps they’d been asked to hold off making them publicly available.

Quite why the council felt it necessary to - in one of their two letters - go in to regional economic aspects of their plans I have no idea. The Campaign against aviation are a regulator, not a governing body. They do not have the power to do anything and their remit is primarily safety. It’s fine asking the CAA to just renew the temporary closure NOTAM, and to be honest it would be no odds to LBA anyway as it’s applied for the airspace in the understanding it’s being withdrawn, so there’s an argument for expediency.

DfT clearly aren’t interested in ‘safeguarding’ the airport, council use words like blue light and coastguard, but they have redeployed anyway so it’s not made a negative impact.

Only slight thing in their favour is the fact Peel are asset rich and cash poor, however they will happily sit on their assets for some time.
 
Meanwhile the official council document outlines how Peel have alternative plans for the site. So the CPO will be challenged and is unlikely to be successful. To ask Peel to maintain the site at cost to themselves hardly sends out the right message.

Talks on Monday regarding the lease are unlikely to involve a great deal of good will, any terms will invariably be in Peels favour, they will include Peel being able to audit the site regularly to ensure its being run correctly, and also the ability to reclaim the site should the airport continue to under perform.
 
The YEP ran an article which said the public were fully behind the council. It's a funny world we live when Labour controlled Doncaster Council are all over saving the airport, while only a few miles away, Labour controlled Leeds (and Bradford) councils are in a climate emergency. It unbelievable really. Why are councils all doing their own thing and not following their leadership line. 🤔 Does anyone even know what Labour's aviation policy is? #NewThreadMaybe
#LabourAviationPolicy
#ConservativeAviationPolicy
 
The YEP ran an article which said the public were fully behind the council. It's a funny world we live when Labour controlled Doncaster Council are all over saving the airport, while only a few miles away, Labour controlled Leeds (and Bradford) councils are in a climate emergency. It unbelievable really. Why are councils all doing their own thing and not following their leadership line. 🤔 Does anyone even know what Labour's aviation policy is? #NewThreadMaybe
#LabourAviationPolicy
#ConservativeAviationPolicy
Think there’s an element of success and complacency at play here, Leeds is a successful large city and therefore has a more successful airport. Doncaster is relatively buoyant when it comes to freight forwarding and warehousing industry but doesn’t have a diverse economy which is why they are clinging on to holding on to the airport in the hope it may generate investment in the future. Catch 22 as the lack of diverse economy or large population restricts the potential of services sectors such as airline industry which needs a lot of passengers to generate a profit. Leeds has a strange air of superiority in some respects with a small town approach to planning as evidenced by the less well developed road links and the constraints placed on LBA.

I think the ongoing success of LPL blows holes in the theory that Peel have purposefully run DSA into the ground. They would have loved to have Jet2 base there, they will have been offered the exact same sweeteners as KLM, Aer Lingus, Easyjet, Ryanair and Lufthansa have been, only they didn’t take DSA up.

Would Jet2 have looked at DSA again in the future? Possibly, who knows. But you can’t keep an airport open on the faint possibility that they might all the while struggling to retain the business you currently have. Still awaiting release of council feasibility study and business plan.
 

Joint statement from Mayors of Doncaster & South Yorkshire & Doncaster MPs regarding Doncaster Sheffield Airport​

A considerable amount of work is ongoing and this update covers the controlled airspace at the airport and a planning measure that has been approved by City of Doncaster Council.

Firstly, The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) was due to make a decision very soon on whether the controlled airspace around Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) should be removed. This would mean the future functionality of an airport would be detrimentally affected and if removed, any operator would have to secure its reinstatement.
City of Doncaster Council has urged that the consultation period is extended to allow further conversations on this important element and the CAA has now extended the consultation until mid-June with a decision potentially by the end of July. There is of course no guarantee the airspace will be maintained, given the airport is now closed, however the council has asked for any decision to be delayed following the consultation until the end of the year to allow negotiations to progress.
We believe that the airport has a viable future, a future sale / lease is realistic and that keeping the status of the airspace around the airport the same whilst these negotiations and conversations are ongoing is appropriate. The council is still in detailed negotiations with Peel on a potential lease.
Last Friday Cllr Nigel Ball approved a new planning measure which will help protect and preserve the infrastructure at DSA. We very much support this.
Subject to the ensuing call-in period for the decision, the demolition of any building at the airport will require planning permission to be granted permitting it. The measure, known as an immediate Article 4 Direction, allows the council to remove certain rights which would otherwise be permitted without needing to apply for planning permission.
With an Article 4 Direction in place, any proposal to demolish a building at the airport – including the terminal, control tower and runway – will need to be assessed via the full planning process.
We are pleased that this step has been taken and we will collectively continue to fight for the airport

Latest joint statement issued today by the headless chickens. Spamming the CAA continues. Leasehold ‘very realistic’, no mention of CPO. Oh and also Article 4 Directive passed on Friday but what it doesn’t say is that it may take 6 months to be implemented, a lot can be demolished in 6 months should the owners wish to do so.
 
Did Ros Jones and her 'advisors' actually meet with the CAA then?

It's worth noting that airports are currently designing new airspace procedures, including possible new arrivals and departures routings, some of which may impact on what was DSA controlled airspace. It is totally ridiculous for these proposals to be shelved or amended just so DSAs airspace is protected into the future.

The CAA seem to clearly set out the position and what any future new operator at DSA would have to do to re-instate the airspace, so what exactly is Ros Jones on about ?
The design of the Doncaster airspace was based upon a massive overestimate of the traffic levels by Peel and outdated procedures/ MSA which rendered the airspace far bigger and restrictive to others (e.g. Netherthorpe miles away from DSA) than was appropriate. If DSA were to re-open, the airspace would I believe need to be re-designed to incorporate as you allude to, continuous descent routings with waypoints and crossing heights with radar vectors to final approach with a realistic estimate of traffic levels which would render it much smaller but more efficient in terms of ATC and aircrew workload and environmental considerations.
 
The design of the Doncaster airspace was based upon a massive overestimate of the traffic levels by Peel and outdated procedures/ MSA which rendered the airspace far bigger and restrictive to others (e.g. Netherthorpe miles away from DSA) than was appropriate. If DSA were to re-open, the airspace would I believe need to be re-designed to incorporate as you allude to, continuous descent routings with waypoints and crossing heights with radar vectors to final approach with a realistic estimate of traffic levels which would render it much smaller but more efficient in terms of ATC and aircrew workload and environmental considerations.
It's clear that Peel and others, despite the warnings given at the public inquiry into DSA, had a somewhat delusional view of what DSA might become, believing it would not only attract a lot of business but also steal much of the existing business from other airports including LBA, EMA, MAN and HUY.

Peel took 17 years to learn their lesson, but it seems that Doncaster Council and the local MPs still haven't done so, with recently awarded city status seemingly giving them an over-inflated ego. Even if DSA does ever re-open, the CAA need to seriously look at it's airspace as you suggest. I'm sure that will happen as the redesign is progressing as the current situation isn't something that they can afford to continue for long.
 
For those (like myself), not familiar with an Article 4 Directive, there is a good Wikipedia explanation here -



I'm not sure if 'restrict permitted development rights' includes demolition.
 
An interesting article, and the following seems to answer my question -

"Last Friday Cllr Nigel Ball approved a new planning measure which will help protect and preserve the infrastructure at DSA. We very much support this.
"Subject to the ensuing call-in period for the decision, the demolition of any building at the airport will require planning permission to be granted permitting it. The measure, known as an immediate Article 4 Direction, allows the council to remove certain rights which would otherwise be permitted without needing to apply for planning permission.
"With an Article 4 Direction in place, any proposal to demolish a building at the airport – including the terminal, control tower and runway – will need to be assessed via the full planning process.”
 
An interesting article, and the following seems to answer my question -

"Last Friday Cllr Nigel Ball approved a new planning measure which will help protect and preserve the infrastructure at DSA. We very much support this.
"Subject to the ensuing call-in period for the decision, the demolition of any building at the airport will require planning permission to be granted permitting it. The measure, known as an immediate Article 4 Direction, allows the council to remove certain rights which would otherwise be permitted without needing to apply for planning permission.
"With an Article 4 Direction in place, any proposal to demolish a building at the airport – including the terminal, control tower and runway – will need to be assessed via the full planning process.”
I’ve heard it’s very likely to be reopening soon, no idea how true it is but apparently the council are confident it’ll be theirs to lease soon. We shall see…
 
I’ve heard it’s very likely to be reopening soon, no idea how true it is but apparently the council are confident it’ll be theirs to lease soon. We shall see…
That's interesting - I wonder what the definition of 'soon' might be as I suspect that there will be a lengthy and costly process to re-establish and re-install the required infrastructure/equipment in order to regain an operating license once a lease is agreed. Then attracting an airline who's resources are not already committed for 2024 to service the local holidaymakers. If the aircraft that TUI moved out to EMA and MAN are operating with full loads there's an interesting decision for them - as they say if it isn't bust then don't fix it! The landowners it seems would, for the first time, get a positive cash return on the land as well as retaining ownership. My gut feeling tells me someone is going to finish up with a financial millstone around their neck! Happy days!!
 
If the council is really going to lease the airport, I seriously hope that they have been in talks with airlines to commence services as soon as it opens. Just thinking 'we're open now, so the airlines will come' wont work. I would be happy to see DSA re-open and be successful but if Peel couldn't do it, what chance have a bunch of councillors got? I really hope that this doesn't add to the 'millstone' around the neck of local residents, especially in these very difficult financial times.
 
If the council is really going to lease the airport, I seriously hope that they have been in talks with airlines to commence services as soon as it opens. Just thinking 'we're open now, so the airlines will come' wont work. I would be happy to see DSA re-open and be successful but if Peel couldn't do it, what chance have a bunch of councillors got? I really hope that this doesn't add to the 'millstone' around the neck of local residents, especially in these very difficult financial times.
I would doubt anyone has spare aircraft at short notice. As I recall WH mentioned (forgive me if it wasn't you WH) that discussions to open a base often go on for months and months in advance, so a 'magic wand' and aircraft suddenly appearing is not a likely option. Could take a couple of years to re-establish??
 

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