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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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pug
I’m
GolfFox said:
There is reference to 1.169 pax at bottom of page 48 of the assessment

Having read through the feedback comments - I would hardly describe the invitation to comment as 'robust' unless many consultees have not bothered to reply. It's interesting to note a number of non technical comments which have more of a political slant and evidences a complete lack of knowledge of airspace use and users e.g. Doncaster Chamber of Commerce and of course the Save DSA Campaign who's letter is lacking in any sort of substance. Just trying to 'up' positive numbers? One assumes that these will be disregarded as CAP1616 is about objectivity and not politics.
Other more technical comments basically set out: It doesn't need CAS for the level of activity projected and/or it needs to be reduced in size to provide an equitable environment for all users. It will be interesting to see how TRAX progress with this - it would seem counter productive for them to proceed 'head in the sand' with the re-instatement of the old airspace option and risk getting knocked back or is there a hint in the appraisal that the path of least resistance might be the option 3 - a reduced footprint/volume of CAS??
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I see the mechanic has once again spun it as a positive and noted mention of his own Facebook group as part of the feedback, as if that matters.

Comments regarding local ‘insignificant puddle jumpers upset because their airspace might be taken away’ displays a gross misunderstanding of the process and the purpose of the ACP and associated consultation!

There is an article in the DFP about it highlighting that Trax, in discussion with BGA (?) have said that even though the CAA have agreed to consolidate Stage 1 and 2, there has been no time saving so far due to the CAA demanding an 8 week consultation period.
 
S
I see the airspace change and the lower pxs numbers have hit the YP…..Its ok though as according to CDC despite numbers lower then before and even though 20% of the revenue is now given to a third party the business case is sound……..yep of course it is…
 
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E
ZB757 said:
What s106 please?

So if that’s the case and even the air space is under peels passenger expectations / minimum of what’s been negotiated, again what is the actual point?
ZB757 said:
What s106 please?

So if that’s the case and even the air space is under peels passenger expectations / minimum of what’s been negotiated, again what is the actual point?
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Snackbar said:
I see the airspace change and the lower pxs numbers have hit the YP…..Its ok though as according to CDC despite numbers lower then before and even though 20% of the revenue is now given to a third party the business case is sound……..yep of course it is…
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I doubt Coppard will release the funding if it isn't viable, he is up for election in 2028
 
7
1.1 million? I thought DSA was taking 20% of LBA & MAN pax? 🤣 so 6 million from MAN & 900k from LBA.. okay dokey.

Now we have an airport burning money, peel making a killing for nothing & pax figures not projected to pretty much ever reach a break even figure of 2mill.. once again.. okay dokey.. 🤡
 
pug
Job Centre Plus are now advertising the ATCO positions. ‘You too could earn £85,000.00 per year’. Is the assumption here that there isn’t actually a shortage of qualified Air Traffic Controllers, rather there’s a bunch of them currently cashing their gyros every couple of weeks completely unaware that there are jobs right under their noses?
 
S
More “false” positive news coming today in the form of a potential railway and tram station with no apparent date even though Coppards plans go out to mid 2040’s.

Closely followed by Christian Forster talking nonsense about how the industry and potential customers are making positive noises. A far cry from the noises I’ve heard from very senior individuals which are far from positive, especially with the current difficulties faced in the industry from the Middle East situation.

I can’t work out if these people are delusional or whether they are too far down the rabbit hole now? I’m personally just glad to not be a tax payer in Doncaster or South Yorkshire that’s for sure!
 
pug
Seems Ros Jones has posted another ‘update’, in other words a narrative control effort. The mechanic has told his followers that this is ‘all the latest information in one place’.

Key milestone in Doncaster Sheffield Airport reopening!

The reopening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) has achieved a key milestone with progress on work to re-certify its airspace.

The latest Airspace Change Proposal (ACP) documents have been published by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

We have also received confirmation that DSA will be regaining its former ICAO designation EGCN. This is incredibly positive and takes us yet further to fully regaining our Airspace and the necessary certifications.

The latest documents show the outcome of stages one and two of the process, allowing airport bosses and their expert consultant team to refine airspace requirements, which will now be put forward to public consultation.

Christian Foster, director of airport operator FlyDoncaster, said: "We've always been clear that we require our own controlled airspace to see the full potential of this project. By consulting with a range of stakeholders, including statutory bodies and other airspace operators in the vicinity, we've taken a vital step in securing that goal.

"Overall, we are very pleased with the generally positive tone of the feedback we received. Other airport operators highlighting their approval and giving their best wishes to us in our endeavours, shows the collaborative nature of the aviation industry in the UK, and the recognition of what a reopened Doncaster Sheffield Airport can bring."

Around 40 key roles have already been filled, with further recruitment expected to bring the workforce to roughly 200 employees on site by the end of the year.

Operational improvements are also under way, including upgrades to security and safety systems and the introduction of new fire training facilities.

#DoncasterIsGreat #Delivering4Doncaster
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The celebration of the ICAO identifier once again being EGCN is… Odd, even for anyone who perhaps doesn’t really have an interest in this sort of thing could surely see it’s barely worth mentioning, let alone being sold as a win. The fact this has to be wheeled out should once again be raising eyebrows at least. Also the fact they’ve decided to forego ‘option 1’ airspace should also be signalling to people that this isn’t likely to be resolved any time soon.
 
pug
Stagman said:
What is even more outlandish. Ros is saying that there will be 200 employees by the end of this year.

200 employees, that is a wage bill of around £8m a year. What are they going to be doing at a closed airport for a couple of years at least.
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They probably do need most of those people to satisfy the mountainous regulatory requirements prior to opening. When Peel were under the process of opening I seem to recall (could be wrong) that they had people from LPL taking up some of the slack. Won’t bother the council though, it’s all tax payer money to ‘create jobs’.
 
7
Chadders has posted pictures of thick fog this morning for today’s runway run.. thought DSA was never affected by weather?
 
pug
752 said:
Chadders has posted pictures of thick fog this morning for today’s runway run.. thought DSA was never affected by weather?
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They’ll presumably say ‘but it’s a different kind of fog’.

No, the irony is not lost on me either.
 
White Heather
752 said:
Chadders has posted pictures of thick fog this morning for today’s runway run.. thought DSA was never affected by weather?
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Yes but at DSA the fog doesn't result in any diversions, because first, you need to have flights. Seriously though, I am shocked that they haven't deleted all evidence of fog given their frequent claims they don't get it. Meanwhile, up at LBA, it was a bright sunny morning.
 
pug
White Heather said:
Yes but at DSA the fog doesn't result in any diversions, because first, you need to have flights. Seriously though, I am shocked that they haven't deleted all evidence of fog given their frequent claims they don't get it. Meanwhile, up at LBA, it was a bright sunny morning.
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I was unfortunate enough to catch it on Calendar news earlier including the snippet of Ros Jones trying to string some sentences together and failing miserably to do so. It was very odd, mentioning something about taking off but it was about some people running for charity and nothing to do with reopening the airport. Lee Pitcher had to.. pitch in too, saying how the airspace was being accelerated amongst other stuff.

I’d suggest the fact they’re letting a couple of thousand people run around the critical part that it’s not quite as near to reopening properly as they keep telling us.
 
GolfFox
pug said:
I was unfortunate enough to catch it on Calendar news earlier including the snippet of Ros Jones trying to string some sentences together and failing miserably to do so. It was very odd, mentioning something about taking off but it was about some people running for charity and nothing to do with reopening the airport. Lee Pitcher had to.. pitch in too, saying how the airspace was being accelerated amongst other stuff.

I’d suggest the fact they’re letting a couple of thousand people run around the critical part that it’s not quite as near to reopening properly as they keep telling us.
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I wonder if Mr Pitcher has actually read the latest on the CAA airspace portal? With option 1 likely being kicked into touch and option 3 looking as if it might be developed (which without a detailed look would seem the best option in terms of airspace use for all) he might well determine that it's not an accelerated process! CAA don't deal in speed and political convenience. On the other hand he might well understand and is simply stringing the ill informed along!
 
pug
GolfFox said:
I wonder if Mr Pitcher has actually read the latest on the CAA airspace portal? With option 1 likely being kicked into touch and option 3 looking as if it might be developed (which without a detailed look would seem the best option in terms of airspace use for all) he might well determine that it's not an accelerated process! CAA don't deal in speed and political convenience. On the other hand he might well understand and is simply stringing the ill informed along!
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It’s the latter. Politicians know the importance of ‘running the news’. What they’ve been doing the last few weeks, particularly after the leaked lease details, is announcing anything they can as ‘good news’. People generally aren’t interested in the technical details and so if they hear things are ‘progressing at pace’ it tends to pacify them. Of course the YP and DFP have picked up on certain things that seem to contradict the political narrative, but these are easily quashed by ICAO designators and things of that nature.

I’m afraid trying trying ti understand why they say what they say is pointless. They know it’s not going to be what people want it to be, but it would be political suicide to admit this. When it doesn’t work they’ll be either long gone or have something to blame it on.
 
Seasider
pug said:
It’s the latter. Politicians know the importance of ‘running the news’. What they’ve been doing the last few weeks, particularly after the leaked lease details, is announcing anything they can as ‘good news’. People generally aren’t interested in the technical details and so if they hear things are ‘progressing at pace’ it tends to pacify them. Of course the YP and DFP have picked up on certain things that seem to contradict the political narrative, but these are easily quashed by ICAO designators and things of that nature.

I’m afraid trying trying ti understand why they say what they say is pointless. They know it’s not going to be what people want it to be, but it would be political suicide to admit this. When it doesn’t work they’ll be either long gone or have something to blame it on.
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and they will have spent a lot of money with very little benefit to the local community.
 
pug
I see that the mechanic has gone crying to the Yorkshire Post again claiming that anyone calling the project a vanity protect has ‘ulterior motives’, but fails to say what these might be.

Chadwick would be best placed to understand the definition of a vanity project. The fact that it’s a political project proves that the 130,000 string petition and 36,000 strong Facebook following is exactly that. The politicians have jumped on it, they use it as a tool to self promote, meanwhile anyone with an ounce of credibility has remained completely silent. His own projection is what I would call vanity.

The full diatribe accompanying the article below.

Letter sent to the Yorkshire Post a few days ago was published in the paper today.

All the negative comments / posts and articles whats the ulterior motives of these people.



Is that the real public interest story here.



The Editor



The airport will always have its critics, as your letters page on 18 March shows, but a lot of them don’t seem to get what reopening Doncaster Sheffield Airport is really about.



Calling it a “vanity project” or saying it’s “doomed” just ignores how people round here actually feel.



Our #SaveDSA campaign proved that. Over 130,000 people signed the petition and more than 36,000 have followed and backed it on social media. That kind of support doesn’t just happen.



Some of the criticism feels like the same old arguments being rolled out again. Colin Challen, for example, was making the same claims back in September 2025 after the funding decision. We’ve heard it all before. But this isn’t about the past, it’s about what the airport could be now and what it could bring to Doncaster and South Yorkshire.



Comparing it to how it used to be doesn’t really work. This is a different plan, with bigger ideas and real potential. It should be judged on that, not written off straight away.



There’s room in Yorkshire for two good airports, giving people more choice.



And there’s definitely room in Doncaster for better jobs, more investment and real growth.



This is something worth backing.



It’s frustrating because it sometimes feels like people are using DSA to score political points, or maybe looking after other interests, instead of giving it a fair look.



You do have to wonder who’s to benefit from all this mud-slinging?



Is that the real public interest story here?



Mark Chadwick



#saveDSA ##saveDSAairspace #syorksairportcity #teamdoncaster #teamDSA #investment #aviation #localeconomy #regionalsupport #doncasterisgreat #teamsouthyorkshire #localsupport #saveXH558 #FODSA
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White Heather
pug said:
I see that the mechanic has gone crying to the Yorkshire Post again claiming that anyone calling the project a vanity protect has ‘ulterior motives’, but fails to say what these might be.

Chadwick would be best placed to understand the definition of a vanity project. The fact that it’s a political project proves that the 130,000 string petition and 36,000 strong Facebook following is exactly that. The politicians have jumped on it, they use it as a tool to self promote, meanwhile anyone with an ounce of credibility has remained completely silent. His own projection is what I would call vanity.

The full diatribe accompanying the article below.
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Did I read that right? Did The Mechanic state there's room in Yorkshire for two good airports? Given his frequent put downs of Yorkshire's ONLY passenger airport (LBA) it's hard to imagine the 2nd 'good airport' he refers to is LBA! If it is, that represents a real climb down off his high horse. Maybe he is thinking of another Yorkshire airport that I have somehow overlooked?

I am unsure DSA will ever qualify as a good airport unless once again that title is judged on having acres of rattle room in a terminal that's lucky to get half a dozen flights a day. If it is, then DSA mk 2 will be a very good airport indeed.
 
pug
White Heather said:
Did I read that right? Did The Mechanic state there's room in Yorkshire for two good airports? Given his frequent put downs of Yorkshire's ONLY passenger airport (LBA) it's hard to imagine the 2nd 'good airport' he refers to is LBA! If it is, that represents a real climb down off his high horse. Maybe he is thinking of another Yorkshire airport that I have somehow overlooked?

I am unsure DSA will ever qualify as a good airport unless once again that title is judged on having acres of rattle room in a terminal that's lucky to get half a dozen flights a day. If it is, then DSA mk 2 will be a very good airport indeed.
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White Heather said:
Did I read that right? Did The Mechanic state there's room in Yorkshire for two good airports? Given his frequent put downs of Yorkshire's ONLY passenger airport (LBA) it's hard to imagine the 2nd 'good airport' he refers to is LBA! If it is, that represents a real climb down off his high horse. Maybe he is thinking of another Yorkshire airport that I have somehow overlooked?

I am unsure DSA will ever qualify as a good airport unless once again that title is judged on having acres of rattle room in a terminal that's lucky to get half a dozen flights a day. If it is, then DSA mk 2 will be a very good airport indeed.
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I used DSA a few times as a passenger (a lot of times as a pilot but that’s another matter) and it was a nice experience there’s no denying that. But as we know, it was a nice experience because it was so quiet. I used LPL for work a few years ago and it was also quite a nice experience but I do recall being in a modular building at one point, much like LBA.. Swings and roundabouts as they say.
 
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