Doncaster Sheffield - General Thread

[Aviador]

I haven't used BBC to view airport arrivals for many years now but the link used by the old CEEFAX pages used to breakdown from time to time. If it's still the same system used to power the digital system it might be that. It used to go down for a few days at a time and then come back on.

 

[lysander]

Not directly related to DSA but connected.... A 'last-ditch' attempt to save the runway and eventually re-open Sheffield City Airport for the business market it was built to serve is being made by the Federation of Small Businesses. An online petition is available on:

http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/s ... ityairport

:s_thumbsup

 

[lysander]

It should read:

www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/sheffieldcityairport

 

[pug]

Interview on this link, from 1:08 in.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p010r6p9

Bit of a flaming from alot of listeners. Cant say I'm surprised though, interestingly all that PR spin about the long runway when the place opened has come back to bite them..

 

[lysander]

With losses last year of over £11 million and the projected annual number of passengers for 2012 reaching only 40% of what was forecast, things are not very rosy! The airport is now employing around 40 lonely souls, so the planned for arrival of thousands of related jobs isn't materialising either. With some business leaders of the region's biggest conurbation openly questioning this poor performance the platitudes coming from Robin Hood sound more like the excuses of a rattled Sherrif of Nottingham!

 

[Carnage]

There's only one way DSA is going, and I think we all know the answer.

 

[sprotyrover]

The new Link road will solve all of the access problems,there will also be a massive developement of the entire area in the vicinity,approx 20,000 jobs according to HM Government think tank.
http://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/n ... nch-points

 

[Seasider]

I think that a lot of people have forgotten that the new link road was for the re-development of the Rossington area, not for the airport. In fact, I don't think that the link road is planned to go into the airport.

 

[sprotyrover]

I think that a lot of people have forgotten that the new link road was for the re-development of the Rossington area, not for the airport. In fact, I don't think that the link road is planned to go into the airport.

Sorry but you are mistaken there!

 

[pug]

I'd be interested to know how you've reached that conclusion Sprortyrover, In fact what Seasider has said is spot on.

The business case for the link road, as can be seen in the proposals available online, is for increased access to development sites and for the workforce. This means it is unlocking land east of the M18 for mixed use developments, the developers of which are contributing to the bulk of the cost.

The link road does not go to the airport, but will terminate at Parrotts Corner, from where the existing roads will be used.

It remains to be seen whether the link road will have any tabgible impact on services from the airport, but its certainly not the driving force behind the development of FARRRS.

 

[sprotyrover]

yes you are right Seasiders remark was brief and so was my reply, however the new link road will knock 15/20 minutes of a journey to the airport from the M1 0r A 1 and I will be very surprised if Peel doesnt find the money for the final link from Parrots Corner being as they have bought lots of land in the vicinity of the Airport.

 

[pug]

Having done the journey myself a number of times I have to disagree on the time savings it is more likely to save 5 to 10 minutes at the most, which will not bother the airlines. However both debates will go around in circles.

Documents suggest Peel are waiting for more public subsidy to build the remaining link. I wouldnt hold your breath unless they pay for it themselves, and even then why not do it now whilst the rest is being built?

 

[Seasider]

The link will not make any difference to my journey time as I come down the M18 from the M62 and leave on the M180 to join the A614.
There appears to be a lot of people thinking that the link road is going to give DSA a big boost in services/passengers but I just can't see it happening.
I am prepared to read/listen to anyone who can put a good case forward to show this.
Is that a litlle longer for you sprotyrover?

 

[Carnage]

Pug, as someone who uses the White Rose Way/Lakeside bottleneck daily, it will save more than 5 or 10 minutes on the journey time. In fact in peak hours, you can easily be sat on that stretch for half an hour or more.

 

[pug]

Like someone correctly posted elsewhere. Who travels to an airport at peak times?

No doubting it will make the journey from Sheffield more conveniant though irrespective of time saving. Im just skeptical over it having a tangible effect on airlines setting up. Ive said before that I hope easyjet can come back and make a real base, people may think im just saying that but I genuinely mean it. For some reason Yorkshire and the Midlands doesnt appeal to them. In reality though, its not the link road that will bring them back, but a large number of factors.

 

[lysander]

FAARRSS, or whatever its called, is currently the subject of some serious research concerning potential time saving to access the airport. Frankly, whether its 10 minute or even half an hour saving it's pretty irrelevent....What matters is having a range of destinations at competitive prices. That's why, perforce, we Sheffielders endure the yomp over the Pennines...not because we object to DSA but because so very few airlines operate from there!

DSA is at the extremities of its City Region and is without rapid public transport links to its major conurbation!

 

[sprotyrover]

FAARRSS, or whatever its called, is currently the subject of some serious research concerning potential time saving to access the airport. Frankly, whether its 10 minute or even half an hour saving it's pretty irrelevent....What matters is having a range of destinations at competitive prices. That's why, perforce, we Sheffielders endure the yomp over the Pennines...not because we object to DSA but because so very few airlines operate from there!

DSA is at the extremities of its City Region and is without rapid public transport links to its major conurbation!

I would suggest that the FARRS when opened will go some way to providing that link

:s_cool

 

[lysander]

You seem to miss the point I was trying to make...It isn't a matter of saving a few minutes on a journey time...it's actually having a destination to fly to that matters. Optimists in local government and regeneration ( whose track record is not outstanding) claim that the "nearly" link road will bring in the airlines...but as aviation professionals will tell you its up to the airlines themselves and they will only come if they can make a profit...and to move to DSA that profit will need to be at least as good as that which they are already making.

Rumour has it that Easyjet found yields low...mainly on account of the very poor on-board sales they made out of DSA..Yes, margins are so tight!

 

[pug]

The overall load factor for the easyjet operation was below 70% most months at DSA, mainly due to the AMS flights. Stelios once said that, as a rule of thumb, there is no way that a flight makes a profit unless it has at least a 70% load. They may operate some routes which dont always hit that load from other airports, but that the entire operation may bring the overall load factor up into the 85%+ range. It must be remembered that airlines are offering a highly perishable product, at very small profit margins.

The 'will it, wont it' link road debate will go on even after the road has opened I'm sure. Crucially what the passengers want, as Lysander has pointed out, is flexibility on destinations, flight timings, costs and often operators. With propensity to fly actually being fairly low in South Yorkshire, and with East Midlands, Manchester and Leeds Bradford all competing for the same passengers but with the ability to offer the criteria I set out, it makes the job of the relevant departments at DSA look all that more difficult. It should also put the link road into perspective.

 

[pug]

It appears the Canadians have palmed off their majority stake in DSA back to the Peel Group..

The Peel Group have today acquired the shareholding in Doncaster Sheffield Airport formerly held by Peel Airports Limited, co-owned by Vantage Airport Group. There will be no change in shareholding at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, which remains jointly owned by Vantage Airport Group and The Peel Group.

The excellent partnership enjoyed to date between Vantage Airport Group and The Peel Group will be extended through long-term service contracts to manage parts of the operation at Doncaster Sheffield Airport, such as Air Traffic Control. It will remain business as usual for airport employees, airlines and passengers.

http://www.robinhoodairport.com/press-r ... -2012.html