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...?

 

It is probably they are likely to lose their leaders in Sheffield and Barnsley plus both councils in a month

Sorry, who are Reform or Labour?

 

Welsh government wins Cardiff Airport legal battle against Bristol over £200m subsidy

Bristol Airport has lost a legal battle against its rival aviation hub near Cardiff over £200m in subsidy.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

Welsh government wins Cardiff Airport legal battle against Bristol over £200m subsidy

Bristol Airport has lost a legal battle against its rival aviation hub near Cardiff over £200m in subsidy.

www.bbc.co.uk

Rabbitfoot once again failing to read the room. The Cardiff thing will come back to bite them guaranteed.

Ignoring the specific nuances that apply to Cardiff (and enabled a favourable outcome) that do not exist in the case of DSA. there are far bigger concerns for DSA presently.

 

Sorry, who are Reform or Labour?

Tom Hunt and Steve Houghton, Sheffield and Barnsley Labour council leaders

 

And no doubt the mechanic will spout the positive of the Middle East ceasefire in all this. Still so far away from the overall reality of the situation

 

And no doubt the mechanic will spout the positive of the Middle East ceasefire in all this. Still so far away from the overall reality of the situation

I don’t think that’s even registered as a threat to be honest. Their priorities at the moment are to harangue the councillors who may have formed this quorum and threaten them to fall back in line. I do note they’ve seen about the Cardiff victory, but crucially the reason it was found in favour is due to the fact that the airport is deemed a going concern with credit facilities. FlyDoncaster has neither, but again that isn’t really relevant as the people watching this play out, the ones they need to be convincing DSA is a good idea, are currently seeing no certainty in the plan whatsoever and a bunch of local politicians playing politics. Clearly support for the airport isn’t unanimous, this risks the project not only in the immediate but also further down the line. Nobody in their right mind would touch this, to all intents and purposes the project is dead whichever way the vote goes.

 

This is just laughable.

What it does however show is that there is a real risk to this project now and the Labour MPs are worried. It’s beyond a joke that an MP that refuses to open North Sea gas and oil at a time of crisis is willing to then back a failed airport reopening.

Hopefully this will open up a can of worms where serious questions are asked and maybe some transparency gained on the lack of a business plan.

 

It’s just been on the ITV News. Some terrible reporting, basically they interview coppard who says that if reform does this then that’s the end of the airport and all these jobs and all of this money that’s gonna flow in will be gone. The reporter then says nobody knows why reform are wanting to pull the plug on the funding. That is the question that nobody knows.?? How bizarre they (reform) have been quite public on stating why this is.

 

It’s just been on the ITV News. Some terrible reporting, basically they interview coppard who says that if reform does this then that’s the end of the airport and all these jobs and all of this money that’s gonna flow in will be gone. The reporter then says nobody knows why reform are wanting to pull the plug on the funding. That is the question that nobody knows.?? How bizarre they (reform) have been quite public on stating why this is.

I think they were planning on issuing a statement today but that obviously didn’t happen. I agree though, it’s terrible reporting did they say whether they contacted Reform for comment? I suspect there’ll be some back room dealing going on and they’ll suddenly decide they aren’t going to rescind the vote after all due to some new information that they’ll not be able to talk about because they can hide behind the NDA.

 

I think they were planning on issuing a statement today but that obviously didn’t happen. I agree though, it’s terrible reporting did they say whether they contacted Reform for comment? I suspect there’ll be some back room dealing going on and they’ll suddenly decide they aren’t going to rescind the vote after all due to some new information that they’ll not be able to talk about because they can hide behind the NDA.

Yes, ITV said Reform hadn't responded to their request for comment.

So Reform say the will pull the plug on the £57m because they have obviously figured things out, which we are told will kill the project - yet at the same time they say they still want it to open and flourish.

In the absence of private sector investment, how can that happen? And frankly, why would any investor, or airline for that matter, want to get involved with this shower?

 

Yes, ITV said Reform hadn't responded to their request for comment.

So Reform say the will pull the plug on the £57m because they have obviously figured things out, which we are told will kill the project - yet at the same time they say they still want it to open and flourish.

In the absence of private sector investment, how can that happen? And frankly, why would any investor, or airline for that matter, want to get involved with this shower?

They won’t, but this strong arm tactic will work and they’ll be forced to rescind their motion to revoke the loan. Regirge are terrible, it’s evidenced by this councillor who resigned over being told to vote yes to the loan because she didn’t believe in it, she’s now today come out in favour of it and used it as a stick to hit reform with. The hypocrisy is blindingly obvious. To be honest if the electorate in Doncaster really are that fickle then let them have their expensive folly. It will fail anyway, but if Reform do another back peddle it’ll be a few years down the line and many millions squandered before anyone actually realises. Coppard knows the likelihood of the Gainshare being signed off is quite slim.

Meanwhile it seems most comments on Coppard recent Facebook post are to the negative and highly dubious of the carrying on.

 

[QUOTE="pug, post: 321356, member: 66"

Meanwhile it seems most comments on Coppard recent Facebook post are to the negative and highly dubious of the carrying on.
[/QUOTE]


I read that. Some interesting comments, many people clearly seeing through the smoke snd mirrors (maybe they read this thread?). What is also noticeable is that OC initially responds in a defensive manner, and as politicians do, avoids the questions that are too tricky, then he starts becoming sarcastic/unprofessional, then stops answering at all.

His complaint about Regurge is that they were no shows at two meetings to discuss the terms but then signed off their support anyway, without 'doing their homework' to understand before approval. If so, that sums up that party, BUT, OC is deflecting away from the real issue. Regurge now realise what they signed up to is a bum deal, they seem to allege that the full picture was never provided, and now they do know the gory details, they are putting a stop to it. OC never really deals with the questions regarding the lease terms, its renegotiation with Peel, or the fact he is blaming Regurge for killing a project he knows he will kill himself unless he releases the gainshare funding - and that, requires a revised lease that has yet to come.

It all feels like a golden opportunity for Labour to kill DSA once and for all, and ensure the blame is laid at Regurge's door, rather than that of the CDC mayor who agreed ludicrous terms with Peel and OC himself who has dug himself the mother of all holes, and jumped right in.

 

So from what I can tell, most people seem to have come to the correct conclusion, but most aren’t being honest about it (except us of course who said this from the very start) as it either provides an excellent political blame game, or they have to cover up doing an improper job

 

Do I interpret this correctly- how can a £57m loan be drawn down against Gain Share funding that although 'conditionally' approved has not been released? What happens if the lease is not re-negotiated to OC.s liking and thus the funds are not released?? Seems a really tangled web!!!!

 

Do I interpret this correctly- how can a £57m loan be drawn down against Gain Share funding that although 'conditionally' approved has not been released? What happens if the lease is not re-negotiated to OC.s liking and thus the funds are not released?? Seems a really tangled web!!!!

And that is essence is the whole hypocrisy of the statements from Coppard etc. He is calling out those who want transparency whilst at the same time the organisation he is in charge of is currently refusing to release funding due to the commercial terms of the lease. A lease agreed to by the other Mayor, Jones who is also calling folks out…..What they both fail to acknowledge is that these issues are all of their own making and down to their own commercial incompetence….
I also see the those asking for transparency don’t appear to be backing down and have pushed back on the local MPs statements. They are obviously confident there is political capital to be made against Labour over DSA…….

 

Well, i just can’t believe this statement by Dan Fell, Doncaster chamber “
Great article by Peter Kennan. Reopening DSA is a long-term project that needs confidence and certainty. Playing seeking to undermine previous decisions not only risks this project (and, therefore, tax payers' money) but also South Yorkshire's reputation as a great place to do business. The stakes are huge here and we cannot allow previous bold decisions - especially those taken on a cross party basis”

The bit about “and therefor tax payers money”

Had a read of the Peter Kennan article (could not link it). Basically states this is a different proposition of an airport, totally different to what went before…..but does not have explain the difference, apart from hinting that it’s public money, therefore the most important thing is it civic effects and the jobs that brings (I need a new emoji for double facepalm ).

 

The freight manager says Doncaster will do 140000 tonnes, where is that coming from when the site itself cannot handle the lorries

 

The freight manager says Doncaster will do 140000 tonnes, where is that coming from when the site itself cannot handle the lorries

He’s said that before, I’m not sure where he thinks all that’s going to come from. The talk about this inland port and some synergies with the Humber shipping ports but there’s no aviation relevance to this because those goods are shipped rather than carried as air freight for very good reasons, I think he’s trying to justify his position, as is Christian Foster who once again claims that DSA has one of the longest runways in Europe amongst his many gaffes in that article shared by Chadwick today. He even claims that COVID killed the airport but that things are better now and the airport will somehow do well. Has he not seen the news?

 

The freight manager says Doncaster will do 140000 tonnes, where is that coming from when the site itself cannot handle the lorries

Assume those figures come from the latest article below

Ready for take-off | Q&A with Doncaster Sheffield Airport - Place Yorkshire

Place Yorkshire visited DSA to speak with programme director Christian Foster and head of cargo and general aviation Gary Winterman about a freight-first strategy to plug the UK’s cargo gap and drive the airport’s comeback.

www.placeyorkshire.co.uk

It’s clear that CF is delusional in some of his beliefs of DSA. “Longest runway in Europe”, “130,000 supporters”, “Potential Military use”, “Rail Link to ECML”. All just soundbites from the mechanics group that have absolutely no relevance to the site being a success and claims that have already been chucked out due to cost.

I struggle to understand where the constraint in Air Cargo capacity is in the UK outside of the South East. EMA has capacity, Teesside is growing it and Newcastle want to enter the market. I’m also confused of the mention of Oil and Gas when mentioning cargo. Again, absolutely zero relevance to the future of the airport?

As much as I dislike them, I hope Reform can get some accountability and transparency out of CDC and SYMCA before this becomes an unmitigated disaster with complete clowns in charge, who have zero knowledge of Aviation or Commercial functions.

 

Just saw the article on Look North regarding DSA with the mechanic interview at the end . It reminded me of a song….”send in the clowns”.
As an “immigrant” Reforms politics are not something I approve of, however I do hope that their questions bring some reality to Ros Jones and Oliver Coppard and their very costly vanity project.