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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The politics down there is something else! I wonder what Mr Coppard actually knows - might appear that he has been reading too much propaganda. Maybe Peel did start to run the airport down when it finally became clear to them they were on a complete loser, who knows, - as for blatant incompetence they actually employed some top people in the industry so I'm by no means certain about that one!!
I'm surprised this is still rumbling on....take away the wind and water and the reality is DSA is dead....it just hasn't laid down yet due to a bunch of self interested clowns....You can dress it whichever way you want...almost no one wanted to go in there first time round....common sense tells you even less will want to second time round...
But as long as it's public money, there is no limit to what they will spaff...it's criminal
 
I'm surprised this is still rumbling on....take away the wind and water and the reality is DSA is dead....it just hasn't laid down yet due to a bunch of self interested clowns....You can dress it whichever way you want...almost no one wanted to go in there first time round....common sense tells you even less will want to second time round...
But as long as it's public money, there is no limit to what they will spaff...it's criminal
I don’t think it’s over, if there is a genuine interested bidder like Vinci who have been rumoured then it will reopen, it would be in Peels interest to see that it does assuming it’s on beneficial terms of lease. My question would be how much does the bidder want to run it. The tender is worth £100million, that is supposed to cover the restart costs plus I assume any ongoing subsidy. Is that enough?

It’s quite telling that when Peel parted with Teesside, one of the directors said to the TVCA that any attempts at keeping the place going and reaching the ambitions of their mayor would come at a huge cost, and therefore require significant subsidy. I’ve no doubt they will be saying the same to the CDC officials in this case.
 
I just don’t get what any potentially serious bidder feels they can achieve with DSA. Nothing has changed, or will change, re it’s location/catchment area so where will any pax actually come from to reach the break even/profit level. This is all delusion of the highest order and if a reputable company like Vinci are rumoured then they are having the wool pulled over their eyes. Other than perhaps TUI, I can’t see any airlines wanting to touch a reopened DSA with a barge pole. Unless non starter Global Airlines are going to operate their transatlantic services from DSA. The reality must hit home soon surely!
 
I just don’t get what any potentially serious bidder feels they can achieve with DSA. Nothing has changed, or will change, re it’s location/catchment area so where will any pax actually come from to reach the break even/profit level. This is all delusion of the highest order and if a reputable company like Vinci are rumoured then they are having the wool pulled over their eyes. Other than perhaps TUI, I can’t see any airlines wanting to touch a reopened DSA with a barge pole. Unless non starter Global Airlines are going to operate their transatlantic services from DSA. The reality must hit home soon surely!
Still think if the Councils package allows enough to de-risk it sufficiently then a serious bidder will take it on. It may also depend on whether any tentative initial talks with airlines during this expressions of interest phase by the bidders result in any meaningful interest, if that doesn’t work in favour then I’d expect the bidders to start withdrawing. However, if easyjet and TUI make some noise to instil confidence then it might be that this suits a new operators and they continue. Peel I’m sure will agree the leasehold, it will obviously have caveats such as performance amongst other things as I doubt they’ll give it away for free..

Be a few months before any more solid information is available.
 
Still think if the Councils package allows enough to de-risk it sufficiently then a serious bidder will take it on. It may also depend on whether any tentative initial talks with airlines during this expressions of interest phase by the bidders result in any meaningful interest, if that doesn’t work in favour then I’d expect the bidders to start withdrawing. However, if easyjet and TUI make some noise to instil confidence then it might be that this suits a new operators and they continue. Peel I’m sure will agree the leasehold, it will obviously have caveats such as performance amongst other things as I doubt they’ll give it away for free..

Be a few months before any more solid information is available.
Why would Easyjet go there again having tried before, with a whopping subsidy, and still failing? There are other airports without DSAs chequered history that dont attract Easyjet so it's hard to see them being interested. Frankly, it's hard to see any airline other than TUi being interested and even that's not guaranteed. Once bitten.....!
 
Why would Easyjet go there again having tried before, with a whopping subsidy, and still failing? There are other airports without DSAs chequered history that dont attract Easyjet so it's hard to see them being interested. Frankly, it's hard to see any airline other than TUi being interested and even that's not guaranteed. Once bitten.....!
I think easyjet could make it work based on the fact that there is a large area on the M1/A1 corridor with no easyjet base between Luton and Edinburgh, granted MAN has a large base but there is still the Yorkshire/Lincolnshire/Nottinghamshire catchment area that I’d basically not served by them. However, I agree, in previous attempts the uptake has been fairly poor with load factors on the one outstationed aircraft falling to around 70% due to the AMS being a poor performer. Worth saying that the other routes did ok.

I must point out that I agree with you, and my point about easyjet is theoretical. I can only see such a commitment from easyjet through some very sound marketing by a new operator allied with some significant ongoing subsidy to reduce risk. More likely is they will be eyeing up LBA once there is capacity to move into there. Southends woes are still fresh in the mind, and will be to shy budding operators.
 
I think easyjet could make it work based on the fact that there is a large area on the M1/A1 corridor with no easyjet base between Luton and Edinburgh, granted MAN has a large base but there is still the Yorkshire/Lincolnshire/Nottinghamshire catchment area that I’d basically not served by them. However, I agree, in previous attempts the uptake has been fairly poor with load factors on the one outstationed aircraft falling to around 70% due to the AMS being a poor performer. Worth saying that the other routes did ok.

I must point out that I agree with you, and my point about easyjet is theoretical. I can only see such a commitment from easyjet through some very sound marketing by a new operator allied with some significant ongoing subsidy to reduce risk. More likely is they will be eyeing up LBA once there is capacity to move into there. Southends woes are still fresh in the mind, and will be to shy budding operators.
I don't think there's any doubt that before DSA re-opens (if ever), LBA will be hoping to lure easyJet into an LBA base with a deal done for a future start, even if the terminal isn't yet finished. We know the capacity will be there from 2026 and I am certain easyJet are a prime target for LBA management. Plus of course easyJet already operate into LBA - only one route, but an increased number of flights from next year.
 
I don't think there's any doubt that before DSA re-opens (if ever), LBA will be hoping to lure easyJet into an LBA base with a deal done for a future start, even if the terminal isn't yet finished. We know the capacity will be there from 2026 and I am certain easyJet are a prime target for LBA management. Plus of course easyJet already operate into LBA - only one route, but an increased number of flights from next year.
This will I feel be the deciding factor for any interested operator. If LBA steals a March on any airline deals it leaves very little for DSA to grab without trying to stand on toes. It’s why I think that an agreement with someone like easyjet is vital if DSA is to be a success in the passenger market. TUI may well go back, but it’s not enough. Like I say, SEN is still fresh in everyone’s mind.

People are suggesting that talks with Peel are no further on than they were months ago. Not sure I believe that. I think it’s more concern over who would run it and exactly what levels of support will they require from the council to enable them to do so. Expressions of interest are one thing, committing money is another entirely.
 
I still enjoy reading about peoples refusal to book a holiday for the future unless its DSA. are they ever going abroad again?

its an interesting and hard to see any 'new airline' interested in operating from DSA. aside from TUI and potentially Wizz? but they're at LBA? who knows if they are happy or not.

how much work is actually involved in reopening? The fuel farm is gone? obviously the fire trucks / de-icing equipment etc gone? has the check in desks / computers/ systems gone? ATC equipment gone?

what actual state is the terminal in?
 
I still enjoy reading about peoples refusal to book a holiday for the future unless its DSA. are they ever going abroad again?

its an interesting and hard to see any 'new airline' interested in operating from DSA. aside from TUI and potentially Wizz? but they're at LBA? who knows if they are happy or not.

how much work is actually involved in reopening? The fuel farm is gone? obviously the fire trucks / de-icing equipment etc gone? has the check in desks / computers/ systems gone? ATC equipment gone?

what actual state is the terminal in?
Not sure what needs replacing, some people suggest the terminal is just a shell with even the toilets stripped out but I tend to believe that’s utter nonsense.

Think they sold checkin desks to LBA? The security scanners have gone and think HUY have one of them. Fire trucks etc have been sold off to various other airports. HUY took some runway end lights of some sort. Apparently the approach lights have been put In storage (not sure how much they like being stored?) but the ground has been returned as was, which will mean wiring and fixtures and fittings will have also been removed. Not sure whether the tower has been pillaged? They didn’t have a local radar controller as that was done via LPL.

Understand there is/was an inspection completed to survey the site to gauge the cost of reinstating all equipment and basically getting the place to a standard which will regain its licence to operate as a commercial airport. Wouldn’t like to guess as to how much that will be, but it definitely won’t be cheap.

As I said, the tender for operator is worth £100million, if that includes the reinstatement costs and subsidy for up to 2 years it probably won’t leave much room for anything else. People might say it’s not all about passengers and freight, which is fine but you can have an aviation hub that does not handle such traffic and it would be far less capital intensive if that was the route they wished to go down.
 
Not sure what needs replacing, some people suggest the terminal is just a shell with even the toilets stripped out but I tend to believe that’s utter nonsense.

Think they sold checkin desks to LBA? The security scanners have gone and think HUY have one of them. Fire trucks etc have been sold off to various other airports. HUY took some runway end lights of some sort. Apparently the approach lights have been put In storage (not sure how much they like being stored?) but the ground has been returned as was, which will mean wiring and fixtures and fittings will have also been removed. Not sure whether the tower has been pillaged? They didn’t have a local radar controller as that was done via LPL.

Understand there is/was an inspection completed to survey the site to gauge the cost of reinstating all equipment and basically getting the place to a standard which will regain its licence to operate as a commercial airport. Wouldn’t like to guess as to how much that will be, but it definitely won’t be cheap.

As I said, the tender for operator is worth £100million, if that includes the reinstatement costs and subsidy for up to 2 years it probably won’t leave much room for anything else. People might say it’s not all about passengers and freight, which is fine but you can have an aviation hub that does not handle such traffic and it would be far less capital intensive if that was the route they wished to go down.
There was a quote quite some time ago from 'DSA Mole' on one of the campaign sites responding to the Doncaster Council post that the approach lighting had been put into storage. He suggesting that interested parties should question exactly where the lights were being stored - the implication as I read it was that they were 'stored' on the approach to someone else's runway. Who knows - but this particular poster obviously had an insight in depth as to what was going on with the closure judging by several 'pre-emptive' posts of information that was not in the public domain at the time but subsequently happened.
 
Ros Jones has released another update this afternoon, nothing much new to report by the looks of it;

Still in discussions with Peel over a lease - talks still ‘progressing’.

Still in discussions with Government and CAA (to protect airspace).

Newer bits of info;

Received 8 expressions of interest, this has been whittled down to 4 that the council would like to work with, these 4 have been invited to tender. Winning bidder to be announced in Spring 2024.

Council to take Outline Business Case to CDC Cabinet which will then be submitted to SYMCA to draw down gainshare.. Not entirely sure what gainshare is exactly in this context, but basically this is the proposal to get the £100millon or so required to see the airport reopen. So this is pending SYMCA approval, which she hopes to get in January.

So despite now knowing how many companies expressed interest, nothing new to report.
 
Ros Jones has released another update this afternoon, nothing much new to report by the looks of it;

Still in discussions with Peel over a lease - talks still ‘progressing’.

Still in discussions with Government and CAA (to protect airspace).

Newer bits of info;

Received 8 expressions of interest, this has been whittled down to 4 that the council would like to work with, these 4 have been invited to tender. Winning bidder to be announced in Spring 2024.

Council to take Outline Business Case to CDC Cabinet which will then be submitted to SYMCA to draw down gainshare.. Not entirely sure what gainshare is exactly in this context, but basically this is the proposal to get the £100millon or so required to see the airport reopen. So this is pending SYMCA approval, which she hopes to get in January.

So despite now knowing how many companies expressed interest, nothing new to report.
How can there be an outline business case approval that can get £100m approved by the Mayor in January, if the winning bidder isnt announced until Spring, unless the winning bidder is already known by January. You can't submit an outline business case that as yet hasn't even been successful and accepted, and if it has been accepted, why wait to announce it?

CDC are a funny lot. They seem to operate under a completely different process to that required. Personally, I still don't trust anything they say. Smoke and mirrors.
 
I totally agree it is all back to front. How can you build a Business Case for funding without knowing what style of operations are going to be conducted. Also with a Lease not yet been agreed and resulting costs then how can you start to build a Business Case. Totally different if it is a purchase, but a lease.
Or with the invitations being sent out they have got the Business Case off each bidder and they are making four Business Cases to align with the Operator. But then that comes back to the Lease, as not agreed yet how can you fathom the costs of the Lease into the Business Case.

As you say Smoke and Mirrors.

For the Operators to build a tender bid package together is not cheap or quick. So with it at this stage now I do have hopes for it reopening.
 
How can there be an outline business case approval that can get £100m approved by the Mayor in January, if the winning bidder isnt announced until Spring, unless the winning bidder is already known by January. You can't submit an outline business case that as yet hasn't even been successful and accepted, and if it has been accepted, why wait to announce it?

CDC are a funny lot. They seem to operate under a completely different process to that required. Personally, I still don't trust anything they say. Smoke and mirrors.
My limited understanding of gainshare is that it is the £900million made available to SYMCA over the next 30 years. This is for the purpose of generating economic growth in the region and much of this funding will be earmarked for various transport projects within the MCA remit, does DSA warrant more than 10% of that pot?

The waters were muddied further today in a local radio interview, with Oliver Coppard being frankly unclear about what the cost to reopen DSA will be, looks like he is waiting for CDC to approach him with a fully costed business proposal, he is asking the Government whether the money from HS2 cancellation is to be available. Something tells me that it rests on that, and how much it might cost to get DSA back to operational capability again. He was talking about fire engines, it needs a lot more than that!

I think the Outline Business Case is the one mentioned back in September, the commercially sensors I’ve document apparently not for public consumption but which appears to have been created with the help of an aviation consultancy and ratified by Ernst and Young. It will like most things of this sort be based on assumptions and no doubt widely exaggerated to suit the target audience. Stagman is quite correct, how can there be a business case without a lease? But more importantly, how can there be a business plan when they don’t have an operator yet?

It seems to me that Coppard is putting in the groundwork to point fingers at the Government for not releasing the funding necessary to reopen DSA, is it going to come down to how much the private sector is willing to invest in it? I’d say good luck with that. We must not forget that for all that is said about Peel, Vantage also ran it for a brief period before offloading it, they are to all intents and purposes a global airport operator…
 
On Teesside Houchen is using the pot of money that was given over the 30 years to buy Teesside Airport from Peel and invest. He has also been able to tap into other funding streams to facilitate new developments on the airport.
All them sources are available to Coppard, so there is no excuse for him not to draw upon these funding routes. If he so wanted he could put in to buy the airport using funding sources available to him.
Is it a case of him waiting for the Doncaster Mayor to put it all together. But the way she has talked is that purchase is strictly out of the window unless it is by CPO.

If Houchen was in charge of SYMCA it wouldn't have got to the point of closure. That says something of what's happening now.
 
On Teesside Houchen is using the pot of money that was given over the 30 years to buy Teesside Airport from Peel and invest. He has also been able to tap into other funding streams to facilitate new developments on the airport.
All them sources are available to Coppard, so there is no excuse for him not to draw upon these funding routes. If he so wanted he could put in to buy the airport using funding sources available to him.
Is it a case of him waiting for the Doncaster Mayor to put it all together. But the way she has talked is that purchase is strictly out of the window unless it is by CPO.

If Houchen was in charge of SYMCA it wouldn't have got to the point of closure. That says something of what's happening now.
I think it’s more a case of the airport being valued by Peel at £250million. It’s simply impossible to justify the purchase of the airport at that cost, much more realistic is to work with Peel who actually aren’t sure what to do with the site. MME cost something like £40million, it’s a completely different scale of operation we’re talking about here.

Not sure whether the previous SYMCA leader was aware of impending closure when he refused the £20million loan/equity proposal. I think Coppard may know more than he’s letting on, he wants the private sector to risk it.
 
I think it’s more a case of the airport being valued by Peel at £250million. It’s simply impossible to justify the purchase of the airport at that cost, much more realistic is to work with Peel who actually aren’t sure what to do with the site. MME cost something like £40million, it’s a completely different scale of operation we’re talking about here.

Not sure whether the previous SYMCA leader was aware of impending closure when he refused the £20million loan/equity proposal. I think Coppard may know more than he’s letting on, he wants the private sector to risk it.

Sorry, forgot to add words.
I think it's a good idea that a public "employee" wants the private sector take the risk
 
Sorry, forgot to add words.
I think it's a good idea that a public "employee" wants the private sector take the risk
I would agree, but in terms of getting the airport reopened there is potentially some crossed wires here between the SYMCA mayor and CDC.

The proposal released to Doncaster Chamber in September clearly states that the private sector have advised CDC that public subsidy will be required in order to reopen the airport. Reason highlighted was finance would not be available due to the business having failed previously. I would therefore question what Oliver Coppards understanding is here, I know he thinks the private sector should run it, and he has publicly stated that the money would be available to provide the necessary capital investment to get it to a state where it can handle commercial traffic again. However, he had not stated where that money is coming from.

There is much debate as to how much of the HS2 budget is available to SYMCA and what it can be spent on, but I can see a scenario where DSA is competing with other infrastructure projects in the region. Up to £1.4bn could be available to SYMCA but this is over a 30 year period, not all in one go. It’s also susceptible to a change in Government and a change in priorities. To see DSA reopen will require significant funds, basically probably more than two years worth of funding available to Doncaster. That in my view is a huge amount for something that as we know has a shakey viability at best.

I should also point out that at this stage it’s hard to see what the 4 operating companies invited to tender are actually bidding for. There appears to be no lease agreed yet, and the amount of money required to get the airport up and running hasn’t been disclosed let alone actually taken to Chamber for approval.

Are they blindly bidding? I expect any who do submit bids will do so on the proviso that they will be coming into a deal with a ready made airport to take on.. Be interesting to see whether all 4 follow through with an official tender proposal.
 
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I still enjoy reading about peoples refusal to book a holiday for the future unless its DSA. are they ever going abroad again?

its an interesting and hard to see any 'new airline' interested in operating from DSA. aside from TUI and potentially Wizz? but they're at LBA? who knows if they are happy or not.

how much work is actually involved in reopening? The fuel farm is gone? obviously the fire trucks / de-icing equipment etc gone? has the check in desks / computers/ systems gone? ATC equipment gone?

what actual state is the terminal in?
I'll see those people refusing to use any other airport, and raise you one poster on Facebook wanting the rest of HS2 scrapped and DSA reopened so that Doncaster can have direct flights to London. Once I'd stopped laughing, I pointed out to them that Doncaster kind of already has plenty of capital facing services via those strips of metal not far from the airport.
 

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