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...?

 

As for that group, the chamber have never worked before, how they are leading on that

 

Sums up CDC, and the Regurge Party.

I wonder how much further down the road this has kicked the next meeting. And if so then that delays funding being confirmed or does that not matter in at this stage we all think that the airport is going to Open no matter what because they are held bent on it being open?

 

I wonder how much further down the road this has kicked the next meeting. And if so then that delays funding being confirmed or does that not matter in at this stage we all think that the airport is going to Open no matter what because they are held bent on it being open?

The spate of recruitment adverts wasn’t just a coincidence. They’re throwing enough at it to make it too big to fail/for the plug to be pulled. It would take some extreme measures to stop it now assuming the SYMCA CFO ends up signing it off. But this is why they’re doing all this, to make it too big to fail.

 

The spate of recruitment adverts wasn’t just a coincidence. They’re throwing enough at it to make it too big to fail/for the plug to be pulled. It would take some extreme measures to stop it now assuming the SYMCA CFO ends up signing it off. But this is why they’re doing all this, to make it too big to fail.

Or when it does fail, it will be even more spectacular! And expensive.

 

Or when it does fail, it will be even more spectacular! And expensive.

That will be years down the line, they’ve already said it will lose £81million over a number of years and people have accepted this as just the cost of doing business. Regurge aren’t going to do anything to pull the plug, they’re just a show piece. Any genuine questions as to the true viability of the site will be drowned out as naysaying doubters who don’t understand the importance of Doncaster having its airport, but what’s new? We already know dissenting voices have been silenced through threat of ostracism, I know of one quite prominent member of SYMCA who left over this. It’s already ‘too big to fail’. Perhaps stuff like this goes on all the time and I’ve just never followed local authority projects. In fact I’m sure it’s normal ops, but it does make me lose faith in devolution to some extent.

There will no doubt be some tenuous airline announcement at some point in the future, depending on how licensing goes, but it may well be small in our terms will nevertheless be sold as a massive win by the Cabal including the mechanic.

Be keen to see what happens with the airspace proposal in the coming weeks, I understand a stage 2 decision is expected soon so that they can progress to stage 3 consultation.

 

What airline is willing to invest millions of pounds in a base with the terms of lease being so high,. no airlines with sense would risk it.

Away based flying perhaps but that isnt going to bring in the passenger figures..

 

And the current Middle East crisis is really going to help the cause - NOT

 

That will be years down the line, they’ve already said it will lose £81million over a number of years and people have accepted this as just the cost of doing business. Regurge aren’t going to do anything to pull the plug, they’re just a show piece. Any genuine questions as to the true viability of the site will be drowned out as naysaying doubters who don’t understand the importance of Doncaster having its airport, but what’s new? We already know dissenting voices have been silenced through threat of ostracism, I know of one quite prominent member of SYMCA who left over this. It’s already ‘too big to fail’. Perhaps stuff like this goes on all the time and I’ve just never followed local authority projects. In fact I’m sure it’s normal ops, but it does make me lose faith in devolution to some extent.

There will no doubt be some tenuous airline announcement at some point in the future, depending on how licensing goes, but it may well be small in our terms will nevertheless be sold as a massive win by the Cabal including the mechanic.

Be keen to see what happens with the airspace proposal in the coming weeks, I understand a stage 2 decision is expected soon so that they can progress to stage 3 consultation.

Stand by for a legal challenge from LBA and others then

 

How a council is willing to throw public money away like that should be a criminal offence.

 

What airline is willing to invest millions of pounds in a base with the terms of lease being so high,. no airlines with sense would risk it.

Away based flying perhaps but that isnt going to bring in the passenger figures..

That won’t matter at this stage, I still think they’re keen on easyjet so wouldn’t be surprised if there’s something in that, but otherwise the project director is on record saying he’s looking at markets in China UAE and ‘Kazerbaijan’. I’m pretty sure of those markets that do exist, they’re not exactly trying to beat a path to Doncaster. There’ll be no telling them though, because doing so would be a slight on Doncaster.

 

Manage a Temu cargo flight from China perhaps? Let’s bankrupt the city! Idiots.

I would be highly surprised if easyJet reacted with a base at DSA. Jet2 have gone into their biggest markets LTN & LGW and if easyJet reacted with going into DSA (again) I think it will be a comical mistake. There’s a reason why airlines didn’t bother in the first place.

 

Manage a Temu cargo flight from China perhaps? Let’s bankrupt the city! Idiots.

I would be highly surprised if easyJet reacted with a base at DSA. Jet2 have gone into their biggest markets LTN & LGW and if easyJet reacted with going into DSA (again) I think it will be a comical mistake. There’s a reason why airlines didn’t bother in the first place.

Seems that’s gone to MME instead, how long that lasts remains to be seen though.

I’ve always been of the belief that if there really was an inner demand it would be easyjet who would be able to carve out a market by serving it. They have very little presence between Luton and Newcastle up the M1 corridor and East of the Pennines. With their tie in with TUI then who knows, I wouldn’t be surprised. It’ll never be enough to justify the investment but we’ve anlready established that this doesn’t matter.

 

That will be years down the line, they’ve already said it will lose £81million over a number of years and people have accepted this as just the cost of doing business. Regurge aren’t going to do anything to pull the plug, they’re just a show piece. Any genuine questions as to the true viability of the site will be drowned out as naysaying doubters who don’t understand the importance of Doncaster having its airport, but what’s new? We already know dissenting voices have been silenced through threat of ostracism, I know of one quite prominent member of SYMCA who left over this. It’s already ‘too big to fail’. Perhaps stuff like this goes on all the time and I’ve just never followed local authority projects. In fact I’m sure it’s normal ops, but it does make me lose faith in devolution to some extent.

There will no doubt be some tenuous airline announcement at some point in the future, depending on how licensing goes, but it may well be small in our terms will nevertheless be sold as a massive win by the Cabal including the mechanic.

Be keen to see what happens with the airspace proposal in the coming weeks, I understand a stage 2 decision is expected soon so that they can progress to stage 3 consultation.

The £81m was a loss estimated in the business case last September….as we all know the world has moved on a lot since then and the aviation industry is now in a completely different place…..I’ll eat my hat if those losses aren’t much closer to £160m and most likely even more…..
I understand EasyJet do have plans for a base in the north and it’s not DSA….They've tested the water there and had a positive market response….NCL is though for the time being their focus whilst they reestablish and build out there….

 

The Mechanic putting an incredible spin that DSA has been reassigned EGCN as its ICAO code (what it was before) and which was obviously expected. I expect the next big announcement is that the IATA code is going to be DSA... He could spin herpes as a positive if he tried hard enough.

 

The Mechanic putting an incredible spin that DSA has been reassigned EGCN as its ICAO code (what it was before) and which was obviously expected. I expect the next big announcement is that the IATA code is going to be DSA... He could spin herpes as a positive if he tried hard enough.

Well whilst he’s busy doing that, it made me realise there may have been an ACP update. Obviously someone at DSA has told the mechanic as lo and behold there has been a number of updates… Leads me to think this good ‘news’ about ICAO confirming EGCN will be recognised as…. EGCN is perhaps to drown out the ACP update!

Airspace change proposal public view

Find details of proposed changes to UK airspace that could affect you.

airspacechange.caa.co.uk

Stakeholder feedback is largely negative.

 

That will be years down the line, they’ve already said it will lose £81million over a number of years and people have accepted this as just the cost of doing business. Regurge aren’t going to do anything to pull the plug, they’re just a show piece. Any genuine questions as to the true viability of the site will be drowned out as naysaying doubters who don’t understand the importance of Doncaster having its airport, but what’s new? We already know dissenting voices have been silenced through threat of ostracism, I know of one quite prominent member of SYMCA who left over this. It’s already ‘too big to fail’. Perhaps stuff like this goes on all the time and I’ve just never followed local authority projects. In fact I’m sure it’s normal ops, but it does make me lose faith in devolution to some extent.

There will no doubt be some tenuous airline announcement at some point in the future, depending on how licensing goes, but it may well be small in our terms will nevertheless be sold as a massive win by the Cabal including the mechanic.

Be keen to see what happens with the airspace proposal in the coming weeks, I understand a stage 2 decision is expected soon so that they can progress to stage 3 consultation.

Latest airspace design has passenger volumes at year 10 at 1.17m well below the lease Peel demanded and current laws capping cargo around 20,000 tonnes and which point no further growth due to s106

 

Latest airspace design has passenger volumes at year 10 at 1.17m well below the lease Peel demanded and current laws capping cargo around 20,000 tonnes and which point no further growth due to s106

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?

 

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?

S106 are usually terms attached to a planning approval, such as undertaking or contributing to road improvement schemes if an airport reaches a set milestone such as a specific annual passenger throughput or annual cargo throughput. Think of it as political back scratching. The council will approve something provided the business coughs up towards something in return.

S106 can of course cover all sorts but all are requirements attached to planning approvals.

 

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?

S106 in this case is the apparent planning cap on the number of cargo flights permitted in effectively measured in tonnage from what I understand.

The documents also mention 2mppa by Y10, I can’t find the reference to 1.17mppa.

 

S106 in this case is the apparent planning cap on the number of cargo flights permitted in effectively measured in tonnage from what I understand.

The documents also mention 2mppa by Y10, I can’t find the reference to 1.17mppa.

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??