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...?

 

I see Coppard has been for a look around the terminal today “This morning we had a flying visit to DSA in advance of our decision on funding later this summer. The terminal needs some work and there’s no shortage of maintenance to be done, but the site is in good shape!”
The guy just hasn’t a clue……

 

I see Coppard has been for a look around the terminal today “This morning we had a flying visit to DSA in advance of our decision on funding later this summer. The terminal needs some work and there’s no shortage of maintenance to be done, but the site is in good shape!”
The guy just hasn’t a clue……

Bullied into subservience. He does have a clue he’s just in a difficult situation and is the ultimate fall guy.

 

Pictures from this mornings visit by Oliver Coppard. To say the terminal needs some work is the understatement of the year, it needs major work if they are serious about opening. No way will this be ready as promised by the Mayor for Spring next year.

 

Pictures from this mornings visit by Oliver Coppard. To say the terminal needs some work is the understatement of the year, it needs major work if they are serious about opening. No way will this be ready as promised by the Mayor for Spring next year. View attachment 32651

To be honest most of that could be turned around in weeks. I could see ATC being provided fully remotely to get around the recruitment/retention issues. The shops are just bereft of tenants but if any could be found that could be fitted out relatively swiftly.

The things that will take time are the calibration of navigation equipment, certification and licensing, procurement of vital fire equipment and recruitment and training of airport critical staff.

Apparently white lines have been re-painted on the car park, oh and they’re doing some work on the airport offices that are basically the old Cold War ops blocks. Nice to see where the priorities lay.

 

Will they not have to order these brand new expensive 1million pound scanners for security etc? Pretty sure there is a long wait on them (LHR / MAN was waiting if I recall correctly).

Also looks like mechanic may have had one / two many whisky's last night, getting mouthy over social media, stating people shouldn't have an opinion if they don't know enough about the topic.. maybe this is aimed at himself and these idiot politicians.. him and his pal calling anybody I presume questioning what is going on (in there rights) "armchair aviation experts" is comical, does he think he is an aviation expert? In fact nobody on CDC is an aviation expert. I presume this unnamed man from EMA is the only "expert" they have and he appears to be remaining silent. Oh an of course MIA getting paid all this money for.. nothing seem to have no involvement.

The mechanic seem to be engaging the followers by another pole of asking where people from DSA want to fly to, RHO being the top as that's his favourite destination. Benidorm quickly follows. Wonder what business the people of Doncaster can do in them holiday hot spots.

What a mess.

 

Will they not have to order these brand new expensive 1million pound scanners for security etc? Pretty sure there is a long wait on them (LHR / MAN was waiting if I recall correctly).

Also looks like mechanic may have had one / two many whisky's last night, getting mouthy over social media, stating people shouldn't have an opinion if they don't know enough about the topic.. maybe this is aimed at himself and these idiot politicians.. him and his pal calling anybody I presume questioning what is going on (in there rights) "armchair aviation experts" is comical, does he think he is an aviation expert? In fact nobody on CDC is an aviation expert. I presume this unnamed man from EMA is the only "expert" they have and he appears to be remaining silent. Oh an of course MIA getting paid all this money for.. nothing seem to have no involvement.

The mechanic seem to be engaging the followers by another pole of asking where people from DSA want to fly to, RHO being the top as that's his favourite destination. Benidorm quickly follows. Wonder what business the people of Doncaster can do in them holiday hot spots.

What a mess.

Well he does seem to know his stuff, his latest statement really shows his deep knowledge of how it all works “Does it matter we missed the brochures? When DSA closed all flights were moved to LBA overnight. Surely this could happen when DSA opens and online listings altered to suit”.

 

Well he does seem to know his stuff, his latest statement really shows his deep knowledge of how it all works “Does it matter we missed the brochures? When DSA closed all flights were moved to LBA overnight. Surely this could happen when DSA opens and online listings altered to suit”.

Shows his fixation on LBA given only a handful of TUi flights, that would feature in a brochure, moved there. The majority went to MAN and EMA. Yes, Wizz moved to LBA but they don't feature in brochures, and I know they had been looking at LBA well before DSA closure even became an issue.

 

Will they not have to order these brand new expensive 1million pound scanners for security etc? Pretty sure there is a long wait on them (LHR / MAN was waiting if I recall correctly).

Also looks like mechanic may have had one / two many whisky's last night, getting mouthy over social media, stating people shouldn't have an opinion if they don't know enough about the topic.. maybe this is aimed at himself and these idiot politicians.. him and his pal calling anybody I presume questioning what is going on (in there rights) "armchair aviation experts" is comical, does he think he is an aviation expert? In fact nobody on CDC is an aviation expert. I presume this unnamed man from EMA is the only "expert" they have and he appears to be remaining silent. Oh an of course MIA getting paid all this money for.. nothing seem to have no involvement.

The mechanic seem to be engaging the followers by another pole of asking where people from DSA want to fly to, RHO being the top as that's his favourite destination. Benidorm quickly follows. Wonder what business the people of Doncaster can do in them holiday hot spots.

What a mess.

He has to retain control of the narrative somehow. When people are fixated on this subject and believe only what they want to believe, then his job is easy. Peel are crooked and went to great lengths to make the airport fail and the council know exactly what they’re on about and haven’t been guilty of misinformation on at least 3 occasions.

Let’s be clear here. Chadwick is a motor mechanic. Ros Jones is a lifelong public sector worker. Coppard is also a lifelong public sector worker. Damien Allen has only ever worked in the public sector and various quangos as has Christian Foster. Dan Fell has only ever worked for the Chamber of Commerce as far as I can see. Those are the people heading up an airport reopening. These people have zero clue what they’re doing in a complex industry. We on here are not airport managers, some of us have varying experience of working in the sector, but all of us have a keen interest that translates to a level of knowledge that is probably way above that of the aforementioned.

MAI are onboard as consultants. There may be one or two people allocated to the project but that’s the limit of their involvement. They’re literally being paid to say the right things. So far they’ve managed to submit a few public statements that say very little.

So who are we supposed to believe here? The very essence of elected leaders is that they must be questioned yet we’re being told we must not question them. That’s very problematic, whether it be regarding the airport or otherwise those in public office must be transparent and must be held timings account.

 

To be honest most of that could be turned around in weeks. I could see ATC being provided fully remotely to get around the recruitment/retention issues.

Honestly, that would be the most time consuming and expensive option, and the recruitment issues don’t go away because you’re doing it remotely - no ANSP has available controllers sitting around, ready to start up a new unit.

The quickest, cheapest option would be to do what they did before (that’s why they did it…) but it would still take a long time and a lot of money. For spring 2026 they needed to be getting started in spring 2024.

 

Honestly, that would be the most time consuming and expensive option, and the recruitment issues don’t go away because you’re doing it remotely - no ANSP has available controllers sitting around, ready to start up a new unit.

The quickest, cheapest option would be to do what they did before (that’s why they did it…) but it would still take a long time and a lot of money. For spring 2026 they needed to be getting started in spring 2024.

Fair point, so from that perspective then either way they do it will have a long lead in time considering the shortage of controllers currently? I would expect Radar will be operated remotely so that probably wont be too onerous but again they’d need to recruit wherever it’s come from presumably.

I notice the mechanic has posted another positive news story but apparently completely misunderstood the article. It’s some tenuous story about how investors want to see the airport reopen but he’s spun it as though there are investors wanting to invest into the airport which is clearly not the case. Apparently anyone doubting this doesn’t understand because no investors will invest in the airport until it’s open. They should perhaps remember what Ros Jones and Coppard told us about the interested investors that in the end didn’t materialise even after a protracted procurement exercise.

 

Fair point, so from that perspective then either way they do it will have a long lead in time considering the shortage of controllers currently? I would expect Radar will be operated remotely so that probably wont be too onerous but again they’d need to recruit wherever it’s come from presumably.

Yes, setting up an ANSP from scratch is a long, expensive process, with lots of regulatory hurdles to be met. Seeing the control tower empty in the photos posted on FB, all the equipment needs procuring, installing, documenting and approving as well.

As for doing radar remotely… who? Liverpool might do it again, or maybe Peel will veto that since they possibly aren't keen to make it easy for FlyDoncaster.

Also, if I was a controller at Liverpool (or any other airport they approach to do it), I’d decline the option of doing Doncaster Radar, on the grounds that the airport has failed once, and anyone who has the Doncaster validation is a prime candidate for redundancy if it fails again. For the same reason, they’ll find it difficult to get controllers to work at the Tower.

 

Yes, setting up an ANSP from scratch is a long, expensive process, with lots of regulatory hurdles to be met. Seeing the control tower empty in the photos posted on FB, all the equipment needs procuring, installing, documenting and approving as well.

As for doing radar remotely… who? Liverpool might do it again, or maybe Peel will veto that since they possibly aren't keen to make it easy for FlyDoncaster.

Also, if I was a controller at Liverpool (or any other airport they approach to do it), I’d decline the option of doing Doncaster Radar, on the grounds that the airport has failed once, and anyone who has the Doncaster validation is a prime candidate for redundancy if it fails again. For the same reason, they’ll find it difficult to get controllers to work at the Tower.

I wonder how much of this has been going on behind the scenes with Cyrus having been employed to act as SME on this?

Take your points about recruitment though, you could add to that the list of airlines who not only tried to carve something out there but also the ones that maybe did ok there but will be concerned about it going to the wall again in future. Steve Heapy apparently said words to that effect in the Cypriot travel trade conference that was by all accounts talking to the people who were there taken out of context by TTG when they reported on it.

Still, what do we know. The mechanic is keen to point out that people like us who are asking questions are just spreading misinformation.

 

I wonder how much of this has been going on behind the scenes with Cyrus having been employed to act as SME on this?

Take your points about recruitment though, you could add to that the list of airlines who not only tried to carve something out there but also the ones that maybe did ok there but will be concerned about it going to the wall again in future. Steve Heapy apparently said words to that effect in the Cypriot travel trade conference that was by all accounts talking to the people who were there taken out of context by TTG when they reported on it.

Still, what do we know. The mechanic is keen to point out that people like us who are asking questions are just spreading misinformation.

I noticed that there's a gentleman called Paul Empey joined the fray recently who certainly knows his stuff airspace wise. Was frustrated by a holiday maker telling him he was wrong about a post he made so informed her he was an SME and knew he was correct. Defensive of the cause overall but posting good info. Even corrected Mr Chadwick on one post - Cyrrus man?? New airport Ops. Director??

 

I noticed that there's a gentleman called Paul Empey joined the fray recently who certainly knows his stuff airspace wise. Was frustrated by a holiday maker telling him he was wrong about a post he made so informed her he was an SME and knew he was correct. Defensive of the cause overall but posting good info. Even corrected Mr Chadwick on one post - Cyrrus man?? New airport Ops. Director??

I expect used to work there and will know a lot about ATC related stuff so even though we may have polar opposite opinions fair play to the guy for telling it as it is in the ATC world and preventing some of the misinformation. The charges thing though, that wasn’t true in at least one case I know of and that I can say with absolute confidence.

 

I see that the mechanic is now celebrating the LBA news today, ‘DSA was H24’.

Reminder again that whilst DSA was open LBA almost doubled its passenger numbers.

 

Key phrase also here is "and is still open"

 

I see that the mechanic is now celebrating the LBA news today, ‘DSA was H24’.

Reminder again that whilst DSA was open LBA almost doubled its passenger numbers.

Perhaps someone should point out to him that LBA was H24 for 13 years before DSA opened and still is H24.

Also the fact LBA has more arrivals after midnight in summer than DSA had arrivals all day!

The guy is an idiot.

 

Perhaps someone should point out to him that LBA was H24 for 13 years before DSA opened and still is H24.

Also the fact LBA has more arrivals after midnight in summer than DSA had arrivals all day!

The guy is an idiot.

Judging some of the comments they think it’ll be like DBX. Sadly there’s nothing you can do about people who believe that. There’s still a lot of people that believe the Earth is flat so it’s quite easy therefore to believe that DSA failed to reach its ‘potential’.

 

Just had a look on the page - which I see is now into property sales - advertising that huge Panattoni speculative build warehouse next to the ex airport which still remains vacant. It must be a couple of years at least now that it has been awaiting a sale/tenant - maybe more?

 

Just had a look on the page - which I see is now into property sales - advertising that huge Panattoni speculative build warehouse next to the ex airport which still remains vacant. It must be a couple of years at least now that it has been awaiting a sale/tenant - maybe more?

No it must be FedEx / DHL / Amazon air all battling to get in as they’re starting a freight hub it’s boring now