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...?

 

Yes clearly heard it from a mate who's got a mate who's mate who ..........

Nothing more than Chinese whispers in my eyes

Yes but unfortunately because they’re pilots anyone that works in, say baggage handling or dispatch will then think that these people are reliable source of information. That then gets spread to the wider population with the usual statement that ‘I heard from a reliable source’, but that’s not my idea of a reliable source.

To give you an example, the pilot community were blindsided by a fairly significant announcement last year, they were all saying it would never happen, they were ‘told so’. Then it happened, and many realised that their fingers weren’t as on the commercial pulse as they maybe originally thought.

People who genuinely have their fingers on the pulse so to speak tend to not disclose things because they are well aware of the rumour networks and Chinese whispers that can result. There are also competitive advantages to keeping cards close to your chest. Any airline that is (or isn’t yet) in talks with an hypothetical operator for DSA will also be talking to the operators of LBA, EMA, MAN to leverage better deals. It was the case when Peel ran the show and it will be the case again in the future. But you’ll never hear of it before or during the fact, only afterwards when deals have been done.

Anyone who is creating these rumours are doing so through intentional misinformation to keep momentum going, or it’s wishful thinking. Conversely, if you throw out enough names - TUI, Easyjet, Wizzair, Jet2, KLM etc and one happens to announce something down the line, it then enables these people to say ‘told you so’.

Think we should get these people to get down the bookies with their predictions? Wonder how many actually would.

 

Yes but unfortunately because they’re pilots anyone that works in, say baggage handling or dispatch will then think that these people are reliable source of information. That then gets spread to the wider population with the usual statement that ‘I heard from a reliable source’, but that’s not my idea of a reliable source.

To give you an example, the pilot community were blindsided by a fairly significant announcement last year, they were all saying it would never happen, they were ‘told so’. Then it happened, and many realised that their fingers weren’t as on the commercial pulse as they maybe originally thought.

People who genuinely have their fingers on the pulse so to speak tend to not disclose things because they are well aware of the rumour networks and Chinese whispers that can result. There are also competitive advantages to keeping cards close to your chest. Any airline that is (or isn’t yet) in talks with an hypothetical operator for DSA will also be talking to the operators of LBA, EMA, MAN to leverage better deals. It was the case when Peel ran the show and it will be the case again in the future. But you’ll never hear of it before or during the fact, only afterwards when deals have been done.

Anyone who is creating these rumours are doing so through intentional misinformation to keep momentum going, or it’s wishful thinking. Conversely, if you throw out enough names - TUI, Easyjet, Wizzair, Jet2, KLM etc and one happens to announce something down the line, it then enables these people to say ‘told you so’.

Think we should get these people to get down the bookies with their predictions? Wonder how many actually would.

No Pug, this is where you are wrong, Jet2 are buying DSA! its a fact..

which was the airline that wnated sole use of DSA? that was one that had me laughing.

end of the day all these massive airlines.. have had 20 years to operate from DSA.. but havent. it says it all. So when TUI goes back in.. what else? because I'm really struggling.

let the airport die with dignity, Jesus.

 

One of the stories I’ve heard from pilots is that their ‘mate works at (insert major anirline here) and they’re going to start flying into DSA’. But they’ve been saying this for about a year now and I’m perplexed as to the sheer amount of apparent interest in an airport that isn’t even open and as yet doesn’t have an operator (at least not publicly) to run it! How can advanced commercial negotiations be taking place when they haven’t even got the funding yet? Expressions of interest maybe, but we know where that got Peel before don’t we.

Seems the latest rumour is KLM. But that was a rumour from many years ago that’s never really gone away. KLM aren’t operating their own flights at the moment, they won’t have the capacity or capability to open more routes, particularly not to one that serves a city of 300,000 people.

TUI I’m sure would go back given the right terms, but they will probably want some exclusivity rights. Kinda tricky to then get more interest when the catchment area is geared towards supporting mostly holiday traffic.

It’s all a bit presumptuous. I’ve no doubt that if an operator is at advanced stages of due diligence then they will be putting the feelers out, but that’s a lot different to actually committing to anything. The people Peel had in charge of aviation development were constantly talking to airlines and it bore little fruit. Some of them had a great deal of experience and had personal connections to the right people in the airlines. They’ve since gone to other airports where they have been able to attract traffic!

KLM won’t entertain DSA…they never did before so why would they in the future especially as they’ve enough in their place at the moment!…..they’ve a long history at Humberside and a lot of their traffic from there relates to the Humberside gas and oil industry…Likewise KLM have an established and profitable route from LBA…..What the DSA supporters fail to understand is most of the market on the LBA AMS route is business travel from the West Yorkshire/Harrogate area….
TUI will go back but to the same extent as before is anyone’s guess…..I can’t see LH routes from day one.
Other then that they will be scratching around to find anyone else interested in operating from there….

 

KLM won’t entertain DSA…they never did before so why would they in the future especially as they’ve enough in their place at the moment!…..they’ve a long history at Humberside and a lot of their traffic from there relates to the Humberside gas and oil industry…Likewise KLM have an established and profitable route from LBA…..What the DSA supporters fail to understand is most of the market on the LBA AMS route is business travel from the West Yorkshire/Harrogate area….
TUI will go back but to the same extent as before is anyone’s guess…..I can’t see LH routes from day one.
Other then that they will be scratching around to find anyone else interested in operating from there….

There are a number of reasons KLM may not want to move to DSA from Humberside, but a new one is that Eastern are operating the route. They are based at Humberside so there are operational and financial benefits of staying there.

On that note it’s apparent that Eastern are to acquire 10 Ejets for the contract, so they aren’t going away any time soon.

 

Eastern must be getting a decent length of contract if they are acquiring that many E-jets. Suspect it will be lucrative for them. DSA obtaining an AMS link is probably as much a slot problem at AMS as it is an operator. Two reasons it's very unlikely to happen - and that's still an if it reopens

 

Any update? Mechanic just keeps posting his podcast and petition.. mid way through October now. Have the goal posts been extended?

 

Probably awaiting the budget to see what is getting clawed back from the HS2 funding. With Labour saying they are wanting to build the whole HS2 routes, then not much will be left for the MCA to spread out.

 

Probably awaiting the budget to see what is getting clawed back from the HS2 funding. With Labour saying they are wanting to build the whole HS2 routes, then not much will be left for the MCA to spread out.

Isn’t Gainshare ringfenced? This Government seems to support devolved powers of spending so I can’t imagine that will change unless the HS2 argument is for Gainshare to be redirected towards it in areas that will benefit, but even then it takes away that devolved power.

Issue will be currently how do they make a plan that will pass financial scrutiny.

 

Yes, Gainshare is ring fenced. But how many projects were allocated before the Airport became an issue. Ros said ages ago that it it may well be the choice of having to decide pretty much all the Doncaster allocated funds go to get the airport up and running, leaving very little for anything else.

When it was mooted that more funding streams be available it will have eased pressures as could spread out through numerous streams. Labour government came in and said HS2 money may be getting clawed back to build HS2. So that leaves a quandary of what overall is going to be available. So with the Airport project not signed off with secured funding it means the whole project is at risk.

It is likely full allocation of money expected won't be forthcoming. So case of saying what can you do if it is full amount, or x amount or y amount, or what amount does it become a no go.

 

Yes, Gainshare is ring fenced. But how many projects were allocated before the Airport became an issue. Ros said ages ago that it it may well be the choice of having to decide pretty much all the Doncaster allocated funds go to get the airport up and running, leaving very little for anything else.

When it was mooted that more funding streams be available it will have eased pressures as could spread out through numerous streams. Labour government came in and said HS2 money may be getting clawed back to build HS2. So that leaves a quandary of what overall is going to be available. So with the Airport project not signed off with secured funding it means the whole project is at risk.

It is likely full allocation of money expected won't be forthcoming. So case of saying what can you do if it is full amount, or x amount or y amount, or what amount does it become a no go.

I still find it strange that the language used has been flip flopping between looking for an operator and looking for an investor. I don’t read those two as being the same thing. The rumours I posted a while back were that DAA were one of the frontrunners and they’d be backed by Saudi money. I think that’s been lost in translation somewhat and perhaps the front runner is DAA but part of their operating portfolio is some Saudi airports that are backed by Saudi money.

I don’t think an airport in the U.K. where the freehold is not for sale would be an attractive investment for the Saudis or any other foreign investor. I could be wrong of course, but I would have thought the only money at stake here is whatever the council can get through Gainshare or other such pots.

 

I still find it strange that the language used has been flip flopping between looking for an operator and looking for an investor. I don’t read those two as being the same thing. The rumours I posted a while back were that DAA were one of the frontrunners and they’d be backed by Saudi money. I think that’s been lost in translation somewhat and perhaps the front runner is DAA but part of their operating portfolio is some Saudi airports that are backed by Saudi money.

I don’t think an airport in the U.K. where the freehold is not for sale would be an attractive investment for the Saudis or any other foreign investor. I could be wrong of course, but I would have thought the only money at stake here is whatever the council can get through Gainshare or other such pots.

I know it's been done to death, but I don't see how an 'investment' where the freehold is not for sale at somewhere like DSA is worth getting out of bed for in respect of a big player such as DAA. Seems to me it would be very difficult to make the sort of money they would expect without owning anything. CDC certainly are unlikely to be able to afford that scale of funding/subsidy and that might seem why there is no announcement as yet. With the Council some 8 (?) months into the lease , I suspect it's very close to 'squeaky bum' time!
On the 'airspace' issue, the comments by the MP's after the meeting with the Aviation Minister said it all and the Mayor must have been briefed by them and must know the score - so I agree encouraging folk to sign a petition is either a 'political' gesture or diversion tactic.

 

I know it's been done to death, but I don't see how an 'investment' where the freehold is not for sale at somewhere like DSA is worth getting out of bed for in respect of a big player such as DAA. Seems to me it would be very difficult to make the sort of money they would expect without owning anything. CDC certainly are unlikely to be able to afford that scale of funding/subsidy and that might seem why there is no announcement as yet. With the Council some 8 (?) months into the lease , I suspect it's very close to 'squeaky bum' time!
On the 'airspace' issue, the comments by the MP's after the meeting with the Aviation Minister said it all and the Mayor must have been briefed by them and must know the score - so I agree encouraging folk to sign a petition is either a 'political' gesture or diversion tactic.

DAA may want the contract if it gives them access to the U.K. and they get more contracts added to their portfolio.

The DAA/Saudi agreement is similar in principle in that I understand DAA are the specialist operator on behalf of the Saudi authorities who are probably not short of cash. In the case of Doncaster Council, they probably are a bit short on cash and the market isn’t as much of a blank canvas as some of the Saudi airports who are hoping to capitalise on increased inbound tourism.

DSA was/will be a departure point for people wanting a holiday. But all it does is add to the market that’s already almost at saturation. You can get all the funding you want but you’re not going to generate demand if latent demand doesnt exist. So whoever is going to operate it, if they have found anyone, will most likely be doing so purely on the back of public finance.

 

Someone who appears to be a councillor (or closely linked to), albeit for the Green Party, has commented that OC/RJ claim the £138m isn’t enough to see the project through.

Whether this is from idle gossip or from insider knowledge isn’t clear.. But purchasing equipment and manpower probably wouldn’t exceed that figure, so I suspect the problem will be sustained losses over a prolonged period paired with any other investment that might be required to increase revenue? Someone close to SYMCA has already said that they’re having trouble properly engaging the private sector on this, but that could also be idle gossip of the misinformed.

I had a chat with some flight crew the other day on a day out, and they commented how much sense to them it would make to have ops at DSA, but it’s purely from a selfish POV, cos when you go to work you want a reasonable chance of getting back to where your car is parked at the end of the day without too much delay. Commercial realities can differ significantly unfortunately.

 

Someone close to SYMCA has already said that they’re having trouble properly engaging the private sector on this, but that could also be idle gossip of the misinformed.

Not many private businesses will entertain a failed business. Even a private equity business will only want to invest if they see a strong future for the business, take InfraBridge for example with investments in Luton, Newcastle and Leeds Bradford.

I had a chat with some flight crew the other day on a day out, and they commented how much sense to them it would make to have ops at DSA

I am sure any pilot would love a new runway to play on, especially if it's long-ish and flat. Unfortunately back to civilisation in Leeds and back to the reel would....

 

Not many private businesses will entertain a failed business. Even a private equity business will only want to invest if they see a strong future for the business, take InfraBridge for example with investments in Luton, Newcastle and Leeds Bradford.

I am sure any pilot would love a new runway to play on, especially if it's long-ish and flat. Unfortunately back to civilisation in Leeds and back to the reel would....

And all that comes back when these points are raised is Peel made bad decisions, or Peel didn’t want it to work so they did things to put airlines off. Thats what the council think and that’s what everyone supporting reopening think.

So with that logic you can see why this isn’t going away. Even if an operator can’t be found it will be blamed on Peel for their unwillingness to sell it on making it an unviable investment or something to that effect.

 

One thing I will add to all this is ironically for many many years we at LBA knew the untapped potential LBA had. It ultimately took Capital Airlines back in the late 80s plus more recently Jet2 (and others) along with the right owners for LBA to realise that potential so you just never know. That said we all know there are other fundamental issues such as catchment area that are a hindrance to DSA, not to mention the fact the airport isn't currently functioning as an airport

 

This is the thing though. There is no way Peel would have plunged the millions it did into Doncaster Airport to plan on running it down. That idea wherever it came from is so ridiculous it's mind boggling. No company in the world would do that. They just need to accept it didn't work. You can see why these council boffins think it will though with Doncaster having a similar population to that of Newcastle but what they fail to consider is the impact of being surrounded by three very successful airports. You can't force passengers to change a habit of a lifetime. That is basically what Peel tried to do and failed. Tui tried with its move away from Leeds and it's customers just transferred across to Jet2 to continue to fly from there, this despite the huge adverts on billboards in Leeds saying Tui now serving Leeds direct from Doncaster.
It didn't work then, and it won't work now.

 

Even a ULCC such as Wizz couldn't make DSA work, so there wasn't even enough of a pull from surrounding airports based on fares, let alone the catchment area in general. This is why I think there is an ongoing delay with investors/operators because they just can't get the figures to work. I appreciate the reality will hurt the DSA supporters but reality is what they must face

 

This is the thing though. There is no way Peel would have plunged the millions it did into Doncaster Airport to plan on running it down. That idea wherever it came from is so ridiculous it's mind boggling. No company in the world would do that. They just need to accept it didn't work. You can see why these council boffins think it will though with Doncaster having a similar population to that of Newcastle but what they fail to consider is the impact of being surrounded by three very successful airports. You can't force passengers to change a habit of a lifetime. That is basically what Peel tried to do and failed. Tui tried with its move away from Leeds and it's customers just transferred across to Jet2 to continue to fly from there, this despite the huge adverts on billboards in Leeds saying Tui now serving Leeds direct from Doncaster.
It didn't work then, and it won't work now.

A successful airport like which Peel envisaged it to be would be far more valuable than some land waiting for redevelopment. They may be a property investment company, and they do at times employ a buy by the acre sell by the lot philosophy, but that simply cannot be applied in the case of their airports division (as was) nor by other ventures such as Salford Quay. They have a knack for turning dilapidated areas into economic stimulants. I may disagree with them seemingly being able to leverage so much support from the public sector without so much accountability but they have a large number of successful projects to their name. To suggest that they just wanted the road links to then turn it into a business park is to play mental gymnastics and it only applies to suit that particular narrative. Dig even slightly deeper, for example the millions spent on airline incentives (that is conveniently ignored), the millions spent on advertising (also ignored) and the investment in staff which made it a happy and productive place to work, alone those things prove they weren’t in it for the short term.

Part of the delay will be, as Aviador states, the due diligence in creating a business plan that will pass scrutiny to enable funds to be released. That’s if they do have an operator they are working with. Questions really must be asked, and everything really must be reviewed in absolute detail, before any funding is approved. The business failed for a reason and it wasn’t one of Peels making!

Also I’d like to know to what end the Government are generally supportive of this project. Devolution aside, there’s only so much money to go around and is it really worthwhile allowing such large amounts of money to be potentially squandered on a known failure? See also the Tees Valley mayor granting £20million to reopening Teesside Airport railways station, a station that before it closed had the dubious accolade of being the least used station on the entire rail network!

Devolution is ok if the money is spent wisely… But if they’re going to be idiots about it there needs to be some protection in place.

 

Also I’d like to know to what end the Government are generally supportive of this project. Devolution aside, there’s only so much money to go around and is it really worthwhile allowing such large amounts of money to be potentially squandered on a known failure? See also the Tees Valley mayor granting £20million to reopening Teesside Airport railways station, a station that before it closed had the dubious accolade of being the least used station on the entire rail network!

Devolution is ok if the money is spent wisely… But if they’re going to be idiots about it there needs to be some protection in place.

Reason why it was least used station on the network, was because it had only one service a week each way for at least the last 20-30 years. Back in the late 70's it had two or three trains an hour each way.

The station ideally requires moving further west to the main road bridge where the station will have more appeal for more uses than just airline passengers and better accessibility.