A new airport.... South Yorkshire Airport City?

Doncaster Sheffield Airport Strategic Review Announcement​

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...?

 

Interesting post and interesting re the mechanic.. still not heard who apparently..

 

And because they are hiding behind commercial sensitivity, the business case is apparently not undergoing the scrutiny it needs to before more money is spent on it.

Perhaps someone on here might know, but I believe they’re aiming to submit FBC on 12th November to SYMCA for funding release. What are the mechanisms for this? Do SYMCA board then have a period to scrutinise the plans prior to agreeing to funding or is this done behind closed doors prior to the meeting? Because there is a call when spending so much on a project for public scrutiny.

I’m sure whoever they’ve got on board to operate the airport has said how they will be able to attract all the airlines etc, but Peel did just this during the public enquiry of 2003/4 and they had a list of airlines that lent their support to the project. I’m trying to keep an open mind on it as much as I can, I do not believe Peel mismanaged it but perhaps since closure there has been a shift in airline appetite for it? Perhaps the Council and the operator has some tangible interest from airlines and freight companies?

The OBC stated quite clearly that financially it’s a high risk investment, that private sector were unlikely to be able to borrow due to the previous failure of the business. The only way I can see sufficient investment is if they’ve managed to get the backing of foreign investors or they are asking for more money at the regional level - I.e other regional authorities may need to invest their share of gainshare funding into it, they do keep saying it’s a collaborative effort after all!

But I do think this needs to be discussed openly in public, perhaps in the form of a public enquiry, prior to steamrollering it through Cabinet without any scrutiny either from SYMCA own advisors (some of whom are not convinced) or by industry experts independent of the consultants commissioned to complete the FBC. I do feel they are misleading the public on the back of falsehoods about Peel or about the true viability of the airport.

Given CDCs clear bias towards this project and reopening come hell or high water, the SYMCA will be failing in their public duty if they dont crawl all over the Business Case and ideally seek independent advice from industry experts who until now have NOT been consulted. York Aviation or similar. They won't though as it seems they only want to hear what suits them. It's absolute madness.

 

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Interesting post and interesting re the mechanic.. still not heard who apparently..

Misinformation. I understand that’s who claimed Munich were the operator.

I would be surprised if the people who do know have leaked anything, but obviously as things progress and more people start to be involved then more people will learn stuff. But releasing it can undermine the process which is why they keep tight lipped about it all, and why there might be motive from some quarters to cause a bit of mischief and possibly release false information.

Given CDCs clear bias towards this project and reopening come hell or high water, the SYMCA will be failing in their public duty if they dont crawl all over the Business Case and ideally seek independent advice from industry experts who until now have NOT been consulted. York Aviation or similar. They won't though as it seems they only want to hear what suits them. It's absolute madness.

We both know that won’t happen, the people will be happy so long as they get their airport - who cares if it ends up in the same position as before, even if part of the business case is based on things that don’t even exist!

 

I’m sure the airlines will be flocking there when the two train stations get built at DSA. Yes I did mean to write two, because that’s apparently part of the plan.. I know we haven’t seen it yet, and to be honest I don’t think we are likely to in full due commercial sensitivity (or intentional lack of transparency if you prefer), but I guarantee this project will be costing a lot more than £138m if their plans are ti be realised,

Part of me thinks maybe they really have managed to get some significant foreign investment to attempt to realise the ambitions Peel had for the site that I linked to earlier? Cos really why would they be so excited in anticipation of this when in actual fact the fundamental problems of lack of enough trade and intense competition is what saw it off before. Or maybe they’re just muppets. I hope it’s the former, would quite like a major airport to pop up nearby, would save me the hassle of putting miles on my car - perhaps I could finally go and get that EV I’ve been eying up.

They can build all the stations they want- however it won’t materially change the dial on the DSA market. Northern powerhouse rail will significantly change journey times from all the norths major cities to MAN….Anyone who is crazy enough to want to go by rail to the airport will go to MAN with its far superior offerings and most likely shorter journey times as it’s highly unlikely and ECML express trains would stop at the airport….
As an aside the DSA supporters tell me how fantastic across by road is to DSA - if it’s so good why do they need a rail link??

 

They can build all the stations they want- however it won’t materially change the dial on the DSA market. Northern powerhouse rail will significantly change journey times from all the norths major cities to MAN….Anyone who is crazy enough to want to go by rail to the airport will go to MAN with its far superior offerings and most likely shorter journey times as it’s highly unlikely and ECML express trains would stop at the airport….
As an aside the DSA supporters tell me how fantastic across by road is to DSA - if it’s so good why do they need a rail link??

The rail link was to increase the catchment area from London to Edinburgh (yes, I kid you not), with the intention to attract the major airlines. Really though it was to move the economic function from Doncaster itself to the area around DSA with the ultimate aim of putting more money in the pockets of Peel. I haven’t yet seen their plans to build another city of one million inhabitants nearby though.

 

The rail link was to increase the catchment area from London to Edinburgh (yes, I kid you not), with the intention to attract the major airlines. Really though it was to move the economic function from Doncaster itself to the area around DSA with the ultimate aim of putting more money in the pockets of Peel. I haven’t yet seen their plans to build another city of one million inhabitants nearby though.

yep I’ve read those claim from DSA supporters that the rail link will enable it to be Londons next airport The facts are however once HS2 goes in BHX will be as quick to get to from central London as LHR is

I suspect yet again they are also basing their assumptions on the Stansted model and rail link, however they fail again to realise the model in this part of the UK is far different to London and the Home Counties in terms of how people travel to and from regional airports.

 

yep I’ve read those claim from DSA supporters that the rail link will enable it to be Londons next airport The facts are however once HS2 goes in BHX will be as quick to get to from central London as LHR is

I suspect yet again they are also basing their assumptions on the Stansted model and rail link, however they fail again to realise the model in this part of the UK is far different to London and the Home Counties in terms of how people travel to and from regional airports.

We’re at the stage now where we will all see what happens because, short of some last minute cold feet, it looks like it’s going to happen without due external scrutiny. I assume the talks have been going on behind closed doors so the SYMCA cabinet meeting will be just a case of flicking the switch, as Damien Allen put it.

 

Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones has announced that a bidder to reopen and run the city’s airport has been identified with the aim of having passenger flights taking off from Spring 2026.

 

That sounds a little vague. Someone who has been "identical " doesn't mean that anyone has signed up to do it.

 

Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones has announced that a bidder to reopen and run the city’s airport has been identified with the aim of having passenger flights taking off from Spring 2026.

I don’t understand the excitement at the moment. It’s a statement saying the process to find someone they want to operate it has been concluded, and as we know they’ve been doing that we also know that it would conclude. It might be that only one or two ever followed through with the process, some might say others have backed out previously.

What is interesting is that they haven’t been able to announce who it is yet, which would suggest that the talks are still ongoing and whilst CDC have found who they want to run it, they haven’t found someone that has agreed to do so yet (beyond the outline terms) as it will be subject to various commercial and legal discussions which I imagine will be quite wide ranging and potentially demanding too.

No reason to get excited yet, the funding will need approving by SYMCA and Central Government. We will see the plans in due course as it will form part of their application to reverse the CAA ACP which is currently on hold.

Ros says Christmas or early January, it may drag on well into 2025 before we hear anything substantial, but I suppose you give enough people scraps they lap it up when something vague is announced.

 

That sounds a little vague. Someone who has been "identical " doesn't mean that anyone has signed up to do it.

No they haven't as yet. I think the announcement now, is to counter some unrest in respect of the period of 'quiet' and pertinent as apparently today is the 2nd anniversary of the last flight at DSA. I see that on the 12th November the Council will be asking SYMA for another £3m to enable them to reach a deal with the identified operator and the request for the major funding appears to be with the Government Subsidy Advice Unit for scrutiny with a decision expected in January. Still some way to go before an announcement of the deal/operator and obtaining the airfield license but clearly progress.

 

No they haven't as yet. I think the announcement now, is to counter some unrest in respect of the period of 'quiet' and pertinent as apparently today is the 2nd anniversary of the last flight at DSA. I see that on the 12th November the Council will be asking SYMA for another £3m to enable them to reach a deal with the identified operator and the request for the major funding appears to be with the Government Subsidy Advice Unit for scrutiny with a decision expected in January. Still some way to go before an announcement of the deal/operator and obtaining the airfield license but clearly progress.

Thanks Goldfox, where is the request to SYMCA for a further £3m mentioned?

 

I see BBC Look North were banging the DSA drum tonight. They seem to be implying that flights might start within 18 months.

 

I see BBC Look North were banging the DSA drum tonight. They seem to be implying that flights might start within 18 months.

Not seen it, but I would expect some 2Excel movements for promo purposes.

 

Thanks Goldfox, where is the request to SYMCA for a further £3m mentioned?

It's in the Mayor's 'press release'. Asking for £3m at the SYMA meeting on the 12th November in order to conduct negotiations/contracts with the 'chosen' operator. If they still need that much to continue/conclude negotiations/legal aspects, one might assume that there is still a fair way to go.

 

It's in the Mayor's 'press release'. Asking for £3m at the SYMA meeting on the 12th November in order to conduct negotiations/contracts with the 'chosen' operator. If they still need that much to continue/conclude negotiations/legal aspects, one might assume that there is still a fair way to go.

Yes I suspect you are right, I see that the actually amount of drawdown is less than the headline £138m which I suppose is a positive, but I do wonder how much bite they got and what the unnamed operator is wanting to bring to the table. I feel success will rest on how much of their money they are willing to put in.

 

South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard said: “As I have from the beginning of this process, I remain fully committed to reopening the airport.

“That’s why I and the MCA Board have authorised the release of up to £138m in support of that plan, subject to the right deal being struck with the right operator, so we can get South Yorkshire’s airport back.

“With that level of investment, and with a deal that is this significant to the whole of South Yorkshire, I am also determined to ensure we progress earnestly ensuring we build on the foundations of a leading regional economic asset. .

“We will give City of Doncaster Council the financial firepower they need while continuing to work at pace to secure the future of DSA, at the same time as making sure we do everything we can to protect taxpayers’ money, and giving the new operator every chance to establish a leading regional airport here in Doncaster.”

Initial assessment of the Full Business Case highlights the significant opportunity around South Yorkshire Airport City which could deliver 5,000 direct jobs, a Gross Value Add (GVA) uplift of £6.6bn, and a benefit cost-ratio of 9:1 – anything greater than 1.0 is expected to deliver a positive net present value to an organisation and its investors.

 

I would recommend reading the FBC overview in full;

https://governance.southyorkshire-ca.gov.uk/documents/s17139/11.%20South%20Yorkshire%20Airport%20City%20Full%20Business%20Case.pdf

Commercial risk is high, the Council concede that in order to get to this point they have had to make concessions as to the operating structure of the airport where they will be taking on more liability than they would have liked when they took on the project and started the procurement exercise. In other words, nobody would touch it with a barge pole til the council said they would bankroll it.

A further risk is not meeting the cargo or passenger throughput to meet the agreement of the lease. Whether this is a direct stipulation within the lease, or whether they are saying they need a critical mass of passengers to service the lease payments isn’t clear. It may be a bit of both.

At this time there will be no airline agreements in place, they may have ‘gone to market’ to gauge appetite, which could be influencing their fledgling business case, but until those airlines put aircraft on the ground it’s not a done deal and I’m seriously concerned that, amongst all the excitement, this is all very academic.

I’m not surprised about the jobs/GVA slant, they’re using usual developer speak. The jobs will not materialise to that extent, certainly not jobs that are as a direct result of having an airport on the site.

I still have seen absolutely nothing that will change my mind on this at the moment, and as there is clearly a long way to go before the operator signs up, and the reopening is really in motion, I think excitement at this stage is premature.

As always, I will remain open minded to this. If they can truly deliver in their aspirations then I will make a full 180. But 17 years of lacklustre performance and crucially, lack of sufficient passenger support, tells me this is a fundamental flaw in the idea of having an airport at DSA. This is not something that can be changed by having a new operating model im afraid.

 

South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard said: “As I have from the beginning of this process, I remain fully committed to reopening the airport.

“That’s why I and the MCA Board have authorised the release of up to £138m in support of that plan, subject to the right deal being struck with the right operator, so we can get South Yorkshire’s airport back.

“With that level of investment, and with a deal that is this significant to the whole of South Yorkshire, I am also determined to ensure we progress earnestly ensuring we build on the foundations of a leading regional economic asset. .

“We will give City of Doncaster Council the financial firepower they need while continuing to work at pace to secure the future of DSA, at the same time as making sure we do everything we can to protect taxpayers’ money, and giving the new operator every chance to establish a leading regional airport here in Doncaster.”

Initial assessment of the Full Business Case highlights the significant opportunity around South Yorkshire Airport City which could deliver 5,000 direct jobs, a Gross Value Add (GVA) uplift of £6.6bn, and a benefit cost-ratio of 9:1 – anything greater than 1.0 is expected to deliver a positive net present value to an organisation and its investors.

Yes - that's indeed what he said!

 

th AI site is not going to be at gateway east, tenders are out for a location in the city center. this will be the first in the uk investment zone. part of the peel group have sold a large site close to the airport, maybe they are giving up on south yorkshire?