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...?

 

There is certainly a co-ordinated attempt to mitigate any negativity caused by the announcement by the Mayor that the airport would sustain losses for 9 years (amended from 5 years) and a fair bit has appeared. The narrative now is that losses are not important (notwithstanding that £81m is around 12 years worth of their Gainshare)- it's the contribution of the project of £2b-3bn to the local economy that's the most important! There appears not to be any calculation as to how this accrues that has been made available for public scrutiny. One assumes that contribution will come from Gateway East and the airport is the loss leader to achieve that. However if Gateway East fails to take off (see what I did there? ) then they are stuffed major style. Do they really need the airport with potentially some holiday flights and limited 'Connectivity' - if any at all - to ensure take up on Gateway East? I'm pretty sure OC and SYCMA were questioning that but were beaten into line by some clever politics from the wily old bird! I know ... it has all been said before .. but it is still mind boggling!


Reported in the DFP that there have been 35 applications for the ATCO position recently advertised ..... at that salary?????

It does say 35 applications, does it say suitably qualified candidates have applied? I suspect it’s on the understanding that they might bump the pay a bit, certainly it seems they aspire to a H24 operation so not sure how attractive that lifestyle would be vs somewhere like Humberside which operates to core hours with very rare Kate’s opening times. Perhaps @radar is best placed to speculate here.

 

It does say 35 applications, does it say suitably qualified candidates have applied? I suspect it’s on the understanding that they might bump the pay a bit, certainly it seems they aspire to a H24 operation so not sure how attractive that lifestyle would be vs somewhere like Humberside which operates to core hours with very rare Kate’s opening times. Perhaps @radar is best placed to speculate here.

Few other snippets from the same meeting
Mr Foster suggested it could bring an additional £2-3billion to the local economy and again cited the 9:1 benefit cost ratio (BCR) it had projected, though he did acknowledge the SYMCA had assessed this at 2:1.
Officials were extremely positive about the freight prospects through much of the meeting, prompting Reform UK’s Cllr Maria Hollingworth to ask whether they were confident they’d get commercial passengers “through the door” during the cost-of-living crisis.
“There has never been a better time to do this,” the chief executive responded.

Are these folks for real - repeating business benefits which have already been rubbished by SYMCA…….stating the cost of living crisis is the best time to open a passenger airport…Just shows how public sector projects consistently fail when they have folks involved like Foster who’d be shown the door in the private sector….

 

It does say 35 applications, does it say suitably qualified candidates have applied? I suspect it’s on the understanding that they might bump the pay a bit, certainly it seems they aspire to a H24 operation so not sure how attractive that lifestyle would be vs somewhere like Humberside which operates to core hours with very rare Kate’s opening times. Perhaps @radar is best placed to speculate here.

I’ve been involved in ATC recruitment before, looking for experienced controllers, just like CDC are. Typically, you advertise (on the company website, LinkedIn, Flight Jobs etc.) and you are soon flooded with applications.

Most will be discounted immediately - no experience or qualifications (your vacancy will have made its way onto Indeed and other aggregator websites, and there is no shortage of people who will apply scatter-gun fashion for any high salary job in the hope of random success), or people who don’t have the right to work in the UK.

You might then be left with a handful of qualified or partially qualified applicants. Some will have gaps in their history, or ambiguous wording about the actual status of their ratings that wave a red flag to anyone who knows about ATC training and competency, and a bit of digging with contacts often fills out the actual story. Some will not get past this point.

You invite the (very few) remaining prospects for interview. Hopefully you get someone who has a connection to the area, and genuinely wants to work at your unit long-term, but it’s not unusual to sit down across the table from people who cannot provide good reasons for wanting the job, because they likely view your unit merely as a stepping stone to somewhere better.

The market for experienced and capable controllers is fierce. If the pay you are offering isn’t competitive then, unless you stumble across someone who really wants to live in the area, you will struggle to find anyone. At this point, you either improve T&Cs to attract people (and retain those you already have) or you pay large sums and invest years of training to develop talent from within the airport. Most likely both.

CDC are saying they have had 35 applicants in the three weeks since they advertised, which isn’t enough time to interview them or even check their back stories properly. For an H24 unit they probably need about 18-20 controllers, and I will eat my hat if they’ve had more than a loose handful who are qualified and suitable.

 

Few other snippets from the same meeting
Mr Foster suggested it could bring an additional £2-3billion to the local economy and again cited the 9:1 benefit cost ratio (BCR) it had projected, though he did acknowledge the SYMCA had assessed this at 2:1.
Officials were extremely positive about the freight prospects through much of the meeting, prompting Reform UK’s Cllr Maria Hollingworth to ask whether they were confident they’d get commercial passengers “through the door” during the cost-of-living crisis.
“There has never been a better time to do this,” the chief executive responded.

Are these folks for real - repeating business benefits which have already been rubbished by SYMCA…….stating the cost of living crisis is the best time to open a passenger airport…Just shows how public sector projects consistently fail when they have folks involved like Foster who’d be shown the door in the private sector….

Also interesting to note was the positive update from Foster regarding for airspace. I don’t know if there have been any significant changes through follow up meetings, but the last published documents on the ACP portal, added on 30th September this year, would suggest that the CAA have communicated that they will most likely have to apply from scratch. I’m not sure whether there will have been any fundamental changes to this, but it certainly flies in the face of what Foster is quoted as saying in the DFP article! I would go as far to say it’s not even misleading but a blatant lie! None of it makes any sense whatsoever, they’re pushing ahead with zero transparency and apparently zero accountability!

I’ve been involved in ATC recruitment before, looking for experienced controllers, just like CDC are. Typically, you advertise (on the company website, LinkedIn, Flight Jobs etc.) and you are soon flooded with applications.

Most will be discounted immediately - no experience or qualifications (your vacancy will have made its way onto Indeed and other aggregator websites, and there is no shortage of people who will apply scatter-gun fashion for any high salary job in the hope of random success), or people who don’t have the right to work in the UK.

You might then be left with a handful of qualified or partially qualified applicants. Some will have gaps in their history, or ambiguous wording about the actual status of their ratings that wave a red flag to anyone who knows about ATC training and competency, and a bit of digging with contacts often fills out the actual story. Some will not get past this point.

You invite the (very few) remaining prospects for interview. Hopefully you get someone who has a connection to the area, and genuinely wants to work at your unit long-term, but it’s not unusual to sit down across the table from people who cannot provide good reasons for wanting the job, because they likely view your unit merely as a stepping stone to somewhere better.

The market for experienced and capable controllers is fierce. If the pay you are offering isn’t competitive then, unless you stumble across someone who really wants to live in the area, you will struggle to find anyone. At this point, you either improve T&Cs to attract people (and retain those you already have) or you pay large sums and invest years of training to develop talent from within the airport. Most likely both.

CDC are saying they have had 35 applicants in the three weeks since they advertised, which isn’t enough time to interview them or even check their back stories properly. For an H24 unit they probably need about 18-20 controllers, and I will eat my hat if they’ve had more than a loose handful who are qualified and suitable.

Thanks @radar and with reference to the update in the article regarding the CAA and airspace, do you think Foster has been given misleading information or is purposefully being untruthful or downplaying the work required to get the airspace up and running?

 

If CCL wasn't already an airport code used (Cinchilla Airport in Queensland), it would be an appropriate new code for the current DSA:
Cloud Cuckoo Land

 

So according to those in CDC actively promoting DSA reopening, "Reopening Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) is not about profitability”. Have they discussed this with the airlines they want to attract, especially the long haul carriers who are going to bring in investment from around the globe to their "sustainable aviation hub"...? Are they too going to waive profits so that Doncaster can have a handful of bucket 'n' spade flights, sorry be an international hub?

The more that CDC struggle to keep the concept alive, the more ridiculous their case becomes. They've gone from profits inside 5 years and cost benefit cost ratio of 9:1, through losses for at least a decade and (at least for some) a ratio of only 2:1, to "oh profits aren't an issue, we'll still get the 9:1 benefit ratio despite not being able to demonstrate any hope of profits anywhere". Meanwhile the PR machine desperately spins news like losing control of airspace as a good thing, and councillors seen in the same room as aviation bosses, whilst attempting to delete any sign of someone saying "hold on this all doesn't add up". I've said all this before, but I just cannot understand how any councillor, regardless of the colour of their tie, could honestly hand on heart back this without being seriously concerned they are about to tip a nine figure sum of public money down a big, black hole.

But whatever the outcome, there is definitely a book in all of this. I shall look forward to reading it.

 

Ros again posting about DSA yesterday, like my first point, screams desperation / trying to make positive noise about DSA, no doubt for some sort of reassurance.. Not about profits is absolutely insane, they are confirming every reason why Peel shut the airport in the first place.. Everyone is stating they can do things differently, yes they can, open and shut the airport in a lot quicker fashion then Peel did.

 

Ros again posting about DSA yesterday, like my first point, screams desperation / trying to make positive noise about DSA, no doubt for some sort of reassurance.. Not about profits is absolutely insane, they are confirming every reason why Peel shut the airport in the first place.. Everyone is stating they can do things differently, yes they can, open and shut the airport in a lot quicker fashion then Peel did.

See the Mechanic has gone into overdrive on his social media and also trying to pull the YP up on their own SM page…

 

I think its very evident the ONLY people CDC / Ros should be wanting to hear from / listen to, is actual aviation experts & airlines not the general public which ludacris perceptions on how airlines work / how "holidays". (Aviation arm chair experts as the mechanic likes to call them.. head of them in my opinion). No clue.

Ryanair warning about 7-8 months ago should send echo's, but instead fell on deaf ears. Peel must be laughing.

Oh also worth noting.. EMA have secured their 6th new cargo airline this year.. conveniently that doesn't get mentioned or a bashing like LBA gets. IMHO EMA is a bigger threat to DSA then LBA. we all know PAX services will be weak, they're relying on cargo and EMA is swallowing it up, what's DSA got to offer..?

 

CDC scrutiny Meeting

This is an interesting watch. The conclusion of the speakers, is that they’ve learnt from other airports such as Manchester and Luton that have been successful that originally were started by the councils. Once the council de-risk the project, then the private sector companies will be lining up with pockets of gold wanting to go into the airport.

In regards to freight they have spoken to lots of companies and they are in a queue wanting to know where to sign.

In regards to passengers, the figures are very modest. Did you know they’ve got one of the longest runways in Europe? They are not currently worried about the cost of living crisis or the current market. They have spoke to MDs of airports and they’ve got Munich Airport on board. Munich Airport know best about what companies want to fly from the UK and from DSA, they are the experts. There has never been a better time to do this then now. Munich has an amazing business model and they will implement this at DSA.

In regards to how they will meet the well-being part of their commitments to the local community…….. they can’t really answer questions about that, well not in public.

So there you go folks, our discussions here are totally wrong and CDC are the experts in the matter, they would not be doing this unless they knew what they were doing.

Oh yeah, don’t worry about yearly loses, they will bring in billions of investment, jobs, from all the greater good the airport does.



Interestingly, right at the end, there is a call for public referendum on such a large amount of money, but this is thrown out, to be revisited.

 

I clearly must apologise in advance to all those involved in trying to reopen DSA for any scepticism shown!!!!!!!

 

CDC scrutiny Meeting

This is an interesting watch. The conclusion of the speakers, is that they’ve learnt from other airports such as Manchester and Luton that have been successful that originally were started by the councils. Once the council de-risk the project, then the private sector companies will be lining up with pockets of gold wanting to go into the airport.

In regards to freight they have spoken to lots of companies and they are in a queue wanting to know where to sign.

In regards to passengers, the figures are very modest. Did you know they’ve got one of the longest runways in Europe? They are not currently worried about the cost of living crisis or the current market. They have spoke to MDs of airports and they’ve got Munich Airport on board. Munich Airport know best about what companies want to fly from the UK and from DSA, they are the experts. There has never been a better time to do this then now. Munich has an amazing business model and they will implement this at DSA.

In regards to how they will meet the well-being part of their commitments to the local community…….. they can’t really answer questions about that, well not in public.

So there you go folks, our discussions here are totally wrong and CDC are the experts in the matter, they would not be doing this unless they knew what they were doing.

Oh yeah, don’t worry about yearly loses, they will bring in billions of investment, jobs, from all the greater good the airport does.

Munch airport has an amazing business model - anybody made CDC aware Munich has a population of 1.5m and Bavaria has a GDP of more than €716bn - the 7th largest in the whole of the EU…..so many similarities to Doncaster…

 

CDC scrutiny Meeting

This is an interesting watch. The conclusion of the speakers, is that they’ve learnt from other airports such as Manchester and Luton that have been successful that originally were started by the councils. Once the council de-risk the project, then the private sector companies will be lining up with pockets of gold wanting to go into the airport.

In regards to freight they have spoken to lots of companies and they are in a queue wanting to know where to sign.

In regards to passengers, the figures are very modest. Did you know they’ve got one of the longest runways in Europe? They are not currently worried about the cost of living crisis or the current market. They have spoke to MDs of airports and they’ve got Munich Airport on board. Munich Airport know best about what companies want to fly from the UK and from DSA, they are the experts. There has never been a better time to do this then now. Munich has an amazing business model and they will implement this at DSA.

In regards to how they will meet the well-being part of their commitments to the local community…….. they can’t really answer questions about that, well not in public.

So there you go folks, our discussions here are totally wrong and CDC are the experts in the matter, they would not be doing this unless they knew what they were doing.

Oh yeah, don’t worry about yearly loses, they will bring in billions of investment, jobs, from all the greater good the airport does.



Interestingly, right at the end, there is a call for public referendum on such a large amount of money, but this is thrown out, to be revisited.

Total madhouse. CDC is in the hands of lunatics. I feel sure that one day, they'll have to answer for this madness.

 

Guppy’s synopsis basically confirms our scepticism as to where they think this is going. Using LTN and MAN as successful operations without realising the fundamentally different operational environment now compared to decades ago. If that wasn’t enough then pushing the fact they’re paying MAI to provide service somehow translates to an airport that will replicate the success of Munich is the icing on the cake.

I do wonder though why they couldn’t discuss the wellbeing commitments to the local community, why was that discussed behind closed doors? Presumably because they have zero evidence that reopening the airport will potentially have a net negative impact on the residents, not only via increases in council tax to fund it when they realise the commitments can’t be met by the airport itself. I note they don’t really mention airline interest.

Like I said the other day, this all screams of personal interest now. Jones made a promise, Forster wants to play airport boss, MAI laughing all the way to the bank and Peel are just waiting for the inevitable to happen so that they can make a better use for the site that actually might result in improved living standards for the community. Oh the irony.

 

Guppy’s synopsis basically confirms our scepticism as to where they think this is going. Using LTN and MAN as successful operations without realising the fundamentally different operational environment now compared to decades ago. If that wasn’t enough then pushing the fact they’re paying MAI to provide service somehow translates to an airport that will replicate the success of Munich is the icing on the cake.

I do wonder though why they couldn’t discuss the wellbeing commitments to the local community, why was that discussed behind closed doors? Presumably because they have zero evidence that reopening the airport will potentially have a net negative impact on the residents, not only via increases in council tax to fund it when they realise the commitments can’t be met by the airport itself. I note they don’t really mention airline interest.

Like I said the other day, this all screams of personal interest now. Jones made a promise, Forster wants to play airport boss, MAI laughing all the way to the bank and Peel are just waiting for the inevitable to happen so that they can make a better use for the site that actually might result in improved living standards for the community. Oh the irony.

There is one other element that to my mind is important in expecting private investment - CDC don't actually OWN anything whereas the Councils in LTN and MAN did!!! If CDC owned the site it would be a different matter - although it would still be questionable whether the private sector would see any mileage in it!

 

There is one other element that to my mind is important in expecting private investment - CDC don't actually OWN anything whereas the Councils in LTN and MAN did!!! If CDC owned the site it would be a different matter - although it would still be questionable whether the private sector would see any mileage in it!

There is this, but implying that the same can be achieved with DSA as was with LTN and MAN just because they were established by the public sector at one time many decades ago just takes away all the things that have happened since. When MAN and LTN were growing 50/60 years ago it’s completely different to the growth they’ve seen in the last 20-30 years. One of the reasons most airports were privatised is because the local authorities alone did not have access to sufficient capital to invest in the necessary infrastructure to cope with the rapid growth. Like you say, there are a number of reasons that private investment has been justified in these cases, one of them of course being ownership of the land. I’m not sure how long CDC think they’ll need to operate DSA until it’s in a position to, in their minds, start receiving private sector interest? They don’t appear to have provided an estimated timeline for when they expect this to start happening.

What they’re not telling everyone is that really they expect it to be loss making beyond the Y9 period unless the most optimistic scenario happens, but because it’s so far in the future it doesn’t really matter because politics is all about short term wins.

 

There is this, but implying that the same can be achieved with DSA as was with LTN and MAN just because they were established by the public sector at one time many decades ago just takes away all the things that have happened since. When MAN and LTN were growing 50/60 years ago it’s completely different to the growth they’ve seen in the last 20-30 years. One of the reasons most airports were privatised is because the local authorities alone did not have access to sufficient capital to invest in the necessary infrastructure to cope with the rapid growth.

It is entirely the attitudes of the labour council and the ignorance of many locals that make me so embarrassed to say I am from Doncaster. The irony that this will be such a financial vampire costing hundreds of millions of public funds when Peel would develop the site in such a way that would create jobs and prosperity, probably entirely privately funded and while leaving the gainshare funds to be used for projects elsewhere in Doncaster.

This is all because CDC and SYMCA realise Peel outmanoeuvred them in 2022 and partly due to the stupidity of Chadwick’s campaign. The airport will open and Chadwick will claim glory, yet regardless of success or lack of success of the airport, Doncaster will have lost with the huge financial cost that could have gone into positive areas, and the DSA site used for positive, privately funded gain.

Debbie Hogg says that profit of the airport isn’t important - without profit how on earth will the gainshare funds be repaid?

I shake my head in shame all the time with this.

 

There is this, but implying that the same can be achieved with DSA as was with LTN and MAN just because they were established by the public sector at one time many decades ago just takes away all the things that have happened since. When MAN and LTN were growing 50/60 years ago it’s completely different to the growth they’ve seen in the last 20-30 years. One of the reasons most airports were privatised is because the local authorities alone did not have access to sufficient capital to invest in the necessary infrastructure to cope with the rapid growth. Like you say, there are a number of reasons that private investment has been justified in these cases, one of them of course being ownership of the land. I’m not sure how long CDC think they’ll need to operate DSA until it’s in a position to, in their minds, start receiving private sector interest? They don’t appear to have provided an estimated timeline for when they expect this to start happening.

What they’re not telling everyone is that really they expect it to be loss making beyond the Y9 period unless the most optimistic scenario happens, but because it’s so far in the future it doesn’t really matter because politics is all about short term wins.

LTN and MAN also didn’t have a history of failure….MAN when it was established also didn’t have any serious competitors in the market across the whole the north of England. In the case of LTN they established themselves initially by cornering the package holiday market in the late 1960s/early 1970s by becoming the home base for Britannia airways, Monarch and the sadly missed Court Line. The market reach at the time for LTN was huge and I can remember travelling down from Leeds several times in the early 1970s to take the Courtline Tristar to Spain from LTN….
A better comparison for DSA would be MME or at a push CWL…

 

LTN and MAN also didn’t have a history of failure….MAN when it was established also didn’t have any serious competitors in the market across the whole the north of England. In the case of LTN they established themselves initially by cornering the package holiday market in the late 1960s/early 1970s by becoming the home base for Britannia airways, Monarch and the sadly missed Court Line. The market reach at the time for LTN was huge and I can remember travelling down from Leeds several times in the early 1970s to take the Courtline Tristar to Spain from LTN….
A better comparison for DSA would be MME or at a push CWL…

I suppose neither MAN nor LTN were previous commercial failures that had to be rescued by the public sector. That’s the crucial distinction. Of course the popular narrative which should be merely a counter factual is that, well Peel never wanted it to work anyway or words to that effect. This is indicative of a wider societal problem though, why do you think Brexit happened or Regurge are apparently getting more supporters? People just have a tendency to believe their most convenient ‘truth’, and in this case it’s that Peel purposefully managed the airport to destruction. These same people weren’t saying this about Peel 20+ years ago when they planned to open the airport! Let me be clear here, Peel made a song and dance about the long runway and how that was to be DSAs USP, and in spite of specialists then highlighting the flaws with that train of thought, it was ignored regardless. Peel had the original vision for the site where it would create thousands of jobs. But now the council are copying and pasting the Peel vision whilst simultaneously allowing the myth about Peel mismanagement of the airport to continue unchecked.

Make it make sense!

 

Latest YP story has some notable comments by Ross Jones

““As I have said previously, this is the people’s airport and in the medium to long-term it can be the jewel in the crown of the Doncaster and South Yorkshire economy.”

Mmm, it’s not the jewel on the crown now until the future .

The story states ‘Because the proposed borrowing is a significant change to the council’s budget, agreed in February 2025, it requires approval from full council, of which Reform UK holds the majority.’ And ‘A senior officer within Doncaster Council told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that a deferral or rejection of the borrowing by full council would “kill” the reopening project and DSA would not return.’

So according to this, the fate is in Reforms hands? I don’t think they will have the balls. Then again I’m not an expert on politics, I would like to hear a more educated view on this