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...?

 

DSA - Doesn't Support Anything.
End of discussion in my eyes!

 

Thanks for all the interesting informative posts which I have read carefully over the last few days I feel a cant add anymore that’s already being posted I JUST CANNOT BELIVIE
HOW THEY EXPECT THIS JUST TO GET UP AND RUNNING WITOUT FURTHER LEGAL CHALLENGES where do they expect any business to move there for basically free landings after17 years of failure, the aviation business is volatile and things can change
over a short period of time.

I do think there is a lack of general knowledge abut this subject by the general public and similpy do not care of have no interest by lack of comments on newspaper headlines other forums a etc.

Were are all the anti aviation groups!, has Oliver Coppard made any statement recently!

If this does progress also just looking at the recent pictures of the new terminal extension at LBA which is privately funded I would expect a challenge from them there is not enough business this side of the Pennines and no one will displace anything from Manchester

Just my view

 

The mechanic has now suggested that LBA and its CEO has “sour grapes” over the use of tax payer money to reopen DSA…

Campaign boss backs council's Doncaster Sheffield Airport rescue plan and criticises 'sour grapes' from rival

There is “genuine public support” for the reopening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport and a potential public subsidy of £90m to allow it to happen will prove money well spent, a leading campaigner has argued.

www.yorkshirepost.co.uk

He really doesn’t have a clue. Comparing it to competition of other garages and showcasing his absolute lack of knowledge of how the Aviation industry actually works and insulting LBA’s CEO at the same time.

Talk about pot calling kettle!

The mechanic says the LBA CEO is suffering a bout of sour grapes because he has been reported to say that a publicly funded DSA is 'unfair competition' - which is true, especially as the business case is built entirely about diverting passengers from neighbouring airports that are self suffucient and particularly, LBA - but isn't this endless hate campaign against LBA by the Mechanic and his mob nothing BUT sour grapes? LBA is open, and successful, and growing, whilst their perfect airport with its super long runway, small terminal and all year round perfect weather failed spectacularly over 17 years and closed down?

Oh the irony.

 

I read something on Facebook, and the amount of delusion, hatred toward LBA and ignorance regarding the plans for DSA is astonishing. Your average Karen and Bob who go on a once a year holiday love DSA because it’s just down the road from home. What they don’t get, is that those once a year holidays do not sustain a business, and their own elected politicians are gambling their money on the roll of a dice they can make something work, that failed wholeheartedly before. If it fails, the debt will not disappear- they will be saddled with it for years to come. Crapola comments that it is the best and easiest airport just don’t stack up- they are looking through rose tinted glasses. Now they and the press are clutching at straws and accusing LBA and VH of sour grapes. Unfortunately, I feel for the tax payers of South Yorkshire that this won’t end well.

 

I read something on Facebook, and the amount of delusion, hatred toward LBA and ignorance regarding the plans for DSA is astonishing. Your average Karen and Bob who go on a once a year holiday love DSA because it’s just down the road from home. What they don’t get, is that those once a year holidays do not sustain a business, and their own elected politicians are gambling their money on the roll of a dice they can make something work, that failed wholeheartedly before. If it fails, the debt will not disappear- they will be saddled with it for years to come. Crapola comments that it is the best and easiest airport just don’t stack up- they are looking through rose tinted glasses. Now they and the press are clutching at straws and accusing LBA and VH of sour grapes. Unfortunately, I feel for the tax payers of South Yorkshire that this won’t end well.

They also love it because it's never crowded. But an airport that isn't crowded is not a successful airport generally speaking.

 

Over £100m of public money will be used to reopen airport due to council failings

Flights funded by council loans could take off in spring 2026

www.independent.co.uk

The independent has reported on it. £60 million towards ‘reopening costs’ and £44 million to subsidise the deferred rent costs for 10 years. This suggests the cost if rent could be valued at £4.4million per year if I understand this right?

I’ve seen suppositions posted that the cost to actually get the equipment in place, jump through all the regulatory hoops etc would be in the region of £30million, so they effectively have another £30 million presumably to recruit staff and cover the losses for a few (5?) years as that’s when they’re definitely going to break even according to all of their scenarios.

Could they have really secured private investment to go along side this? Surely that being the case they would have submitted that evidence to the SAU? I just can’t see how this is going to work at all. They’ll be needing an injection of cash by Y5 if the airport doesn’t break even, surely? They must be expecting it to lose money, at least initially, and it was losing £10 million per year before. The cost to host TUI on a full service was clearly far higher than the revenue it generated for them, would TUI be as keen to return if service levels are going to be vastly reduced? The operator they have procured won’t want to do the work for free, how much are they being paid?

I can’t imagine the airlines they may be talking to have not been aware of the SAU findings.

 

Unfortunately it is a vanity project. With vanity comes pride and the leader of CDC doesn’t want to lose face by accepting that it isn’t viable. That type of gamble with public money is unacceptable. I find it incredible that Labour top brass have not stepped in, as when it fails, it will look very badly on them as a party.
Personally, I would have no objection to DSA reopening if it wasn’t using public funds and misleading a very ill informed public. Would I use it, no - I used it once and I wasn’t a fan. If I were to use anywhere other than LBA, then like a lot of Yorkshire punters, I would use MAN. The DSA supporters fail to recognise that MAN will always draw passengers from West Yorkshire(mainly on price and flight options), before anyone would use likely a once a week service from DSA. LBA serves Yorkshire well and any undelivered capacity will just trek over the hill. DSA just is not viable- period.

 

Surely the desperateness of the airport/council will give TUI bargaining power to reduce costs/fees even more? airlines are NOT desperate to go into DSA lets us say that.

Ive seen boycott LBA coming from the LBA supporters.. I'm sure that absolutely wont work but welcome to try, the irony of it all and hypocrisy is crazy. Clearly MAG doesn't give a F* about DS for both MAN/EMA operations. LBA shouldn't be worried either.

Maybe when Virgin, Emirates, KLM & Jet2 all come in as they're desperately knocking at the door according to DSA Group.. maybe we should be worried.

No airline will invest / base at an airport without confidence the airport will be around for a couple of years, the investment isn't worth the risk.

 

Surely the desperateness of the airport/council will give TUI bargaining power to reduce costs/fees even more? airlines are NOT desperate to go into DSA lets us say that.

Ive seen boycott LBA coming from the LBA supporters.. I'm sure that absolutely wont work but welcome to try, the irony of it all and hypocrisy is crazy. Clearly MAG doesn't give a F* about DS for both MAN/EMA operations. LBA shouldn't be worried either.

Maybe when Virgin, Emirates, KLM & Jet2 all come in as they're desperately knocking at the door according to DSA Group.. maybe we should be worried.

No airline will invest / base at an airport without confidence the airport will be around for a couple of years, the investment isn't worth the risk.

I very much doubt that the gurus at Emirates even know where Doncaster is!

 

I very much doubt that the gurus at Emirates even know where Doncaster is!

I very much doubt many airlines will know where it is or even want to be seen taking tax payer money at a time when we are all being taxed at a record rate. It’s bad PR all round for the airlines and never installs any confidence in a market when you ultimately need to be subsidised to be there.

In regards to the mechanic, it’s easier to blame others, rather than accept the cold hard facts and truth which lay closer to home. I do wonder how he would feel if a garage down the road from him received a huge amount of tax payer money with a plan to take business away from his garage, meanwhile he had to pump his own private cash into his business and receive no subsidies? Maybe he’d just have “sour grapes”!

 

I very much doubt many airlines will know where it is or even want to be seen taking tax payer money at a time when we are all being taxed at a record rate. It’s bad PR all round for the airlines and never installs any confidence in a market when you ultimately need to be subsidised to be there.

In regards to the mechanic, it’s easier to blame others, rather than accept the cold hard facts and truth which lay closer to home. I do wonder how he would feel if a garage down the road from him received a huge amount of tax payer money with a plan to take business away from his garage, meanwhile he had to pump his own private cash into his business and receive no subsidies? Maybe he’d just have “sour grapes”!

I can understand why he’s doing what he’s doing and why he needs to toe the line for the council. But you’re right, he’s one of the many that want to believe the myth because it’s more palatable than the truth. Because Thursdays full council wasn’t recorded I don’t know what questions were asked other than the published ones, and how they were answered. At the last full council there was a question about whether head of terms had been agreed with any airlines, this was batted off. Rod Jones was directly asked why she couldn’t say a simple yes or no, again this was batted off. Suggests to me there are none. It’s also typically easier to keep an airline than it is to attract one away, something DSA will struggle with.

Lots of subsidies and incentives required. History of poor passenger useage. Very hard sell no matter who runs it. It’s got more going against it than for it. I hope LBA and others launch a challenge in the coming weeks/months.

 

I can understand why he’s doing what he’s doing and why he needs to toe the line for the council. But you’re right, he’s one of the many that want to believe the myth because it’s more palatable than the truth. Because Thursdays full council wasn’t recorded I don’t know what questions were asked other than the published ones, and how they were answered. At the last full council there was a question about whether head of terms had been agreed with any airlines, this was batted off. Rod Jones was directly asked why she couldn’t say a simple yes or no, again this was batted off. Suggests to me there are none. It’s also typically easier to keep an airline than it is to attract one away, something DSA will struggle with.

Lots of subsidies and incentives required. History of poor passenger useage. Very hard sell no matter who runs it. It’s got more going against it than for it. I hope LBA and others launch a challenge in the coming weeks/months.

Out of interest , what are the grounds for a legal challenge? If they are to do that , the proposals put forward by CDC has to be contrary to some law or regulation, presumably one relating to fair competition.

 

I can understand why he’s doing what he’s doing and why he needs to toe the line for the council. But you’re right, he’s one of the many that want to believe the myth because it’s more palatable than the truth. Because Thursdays full council wasn’t recorded I don’t know what questions were asked other than the published ones, and how they were answered. At the last full council there was a question about whether head of terms had been agreed with any airlines, this was batted off. Rod Jones was directly asked why she couldn’t say a simple yes or no, again this was batted off. Suggests to me there are none. It’s also typically easier to keep an airline than it is to attract one away, something DSA will struggle with.

Lots of subsidies and incentives required. History of poor passenger useage. Very hard sell no matter who runs it. It’s got more going against it than for it. I hope LBA and others launch a challenge in the coming weeks/months.

All this in the face of some real challenges in the industry as well. Not only is there fleet issues and delivery delays but the likes of Ryanair are anti UK growth at the moment with APD increases, which I’m sure will be putting a lot of European operators off the UK market as well. KLM for example have issues at Schiphol and increases in fees and movement caps there as well, so another who can effectively be ruled out.

I can’t see any airlines other than TUI seriously looking at Doncaster and we all know how it ended last time with just TUI there.

 

All this in the face of some real challenges in the industry as well. Not only is there fleet issues and delivery delays but the likes of Ryanair are anti UK growth at the moment with APD increases, which I’m sure will be putting a lot of European operators off the UK market as well. KLM for example have issues at Schiphol and increases in fees and movement caps there as well, so another who can effectively be ruled out.

I can’t see any airlines other than TUI seriously looking at Doncaster and we all know how it ended last time with just TUI there.

Don’t know. Steve Heapy was asked at a travel trade Q&A about DSA and whether they’d be interested. He gave a typical airline response, ‘we’ll certainly have a look at it’. It’s nothing to read into. They do have lots of airbuses due to arrive that they’ll have to put somewhere. But he also said he understood there was a new injection of cash, not sure if he knew it was public cash nor how much it would be. They will no doubt seriously consider it but they’ll not want another Blackpool on their hands, nor will TUI want another DSA on their hands.

KLM I wouldn’t dismiss out of hand, they have just announced EXT.

It’s easy reopening an airport when you’ve got access to lots of other people’s money, but the hard bit is creating a viable business that has long term potential and I think it would take a brave airline to invest heavily into something that has closed before. I’d like to know where the other 6 objections came from in response to SAU.

 

In essence it’s around market distortion, unfair competition practices and importantly any negative impact a subsidy may have on inward investment…The SAU alludes to it in the areas where it has asked CDC to do further work…..as an aside I expect it would be Infrabridge who take action rather than LBA and I’d expect it to be joined by others. This will of course all depend on how CDC respond to the SAU concerns……

I suppose the detail of how much of the market share the airport aims to ‘reclaim’ from MAN/LBA won’t help matters. It would depend on how this is interpreted. As mentioned, the council believe it’s a share that’s rightly theirs to take back, because those passengers are just ‘on loan’. But I doubt LBA see it that way, I don’t think MAG will be all that bothered because it had no problem before. I’m personally not concerned about them getting those passengers back, as I’m sure LBA aren’t. But what they will be concerned about is how it will impact their ability to negotiate when competing with MAN. DSA saturates the market, bringing it back just makes the job of LBA and DSA attracting airlines to generate sustainable growth.

It’s also worth saying at this point that I believe the consultants commissioned to create the business plan and growth models is one of the consultants commissioned to advise on the reopening. Vested interests?

 

Don’t know. Steve Heapy was asked at a travel trade Q&A about DSA and whether they’d be interested. He gave a typical airline response, ‘we’ll certainly have a look at it’. It’s nothing to read into. They do have lots of airbuses due to arrive that they’ll have to put somewhere. But he also said he understood there was a new injection of cash, not sure if he knew it was public cash nor how much it would be. They will no doubt seriously consider it but they’ll not want another Blackpool on their hands, nor will TUI want another DSA on their hands.

KLM I wouldn’t dismiss out of hand, they have just announced EXT.

It’s easy reopening an airport when you’ve got access to lots of other people’s money, but the hard bit is creating a viable business that has long term potential and I think it would take a brave airline to invest heavily into something that has closed before. I’d like to know where the other 6 objections came from in response to SAU.

Would be a very brave call by Jet2 to move lock stock and barrel down the road from LBA….their passenger volume, history and as a result their commercial terms at LBA mean there would be little if any economic benefit and significant commercial risk in doing even with a subsidy…You’d be looking at relocation/redundancy cost for north of over a 1,000 staff with the associated cost. The model jet2 adopt of using their own staff for ground ops rather then say Swissport makes it far more difficult to move bases.
DSA have tried for the last 10 years offering extremely attractive commercial terms and even throwing in free hangar space. Guess they may look at a supplementary base similar to MAN LPL but even then based on the SAU I just don’t see the market for it…
As an aside jet2 have a pilot recruitment fair in Headingley on the 11th Feb!

 

Would be a very brave call by Jet2 to move lock stock and barrel down the road from LBA….their passenger volume, history and as a result their commercial terms at LBA mean there would be little if any economic benefit and significant commercial risk in doing even with a subsidy…You’d be looking at relocation/redundancy cost for north of over a 1,000 staff with the associated cost. The model jet2 adopt of using their own staff for ground ops rather then say Swissport makes it far more difficult to move bases.
DSA have tried for the last 10 years offering extremely attractive commercial terms and even throwing in free hangar space. Guess they may look at a supplementary base similar to MAN LPL but even then based on the SAU I just don’t see the market for it…
As an aside jet2 have a pilot recruitment fair in Headingley on the 11th Feb!

They wouldn’t move everything, it would be growth of anything and in the interests of balance, Jet2 out of anyone at the moment could make it work. The issue is whether they could make it work and enable DSA to cover its costs. Thats what I’m not convinced about, that’s probably what they’d need to convince jet2 about and ultimately can it provide access to a large market that won’t have too much of an impact on LBA/MAN/EMA? LPL has a big catchment area, DSA not so much.

Peel wanted DSA to reflect the success of LPL. Had this happened it would still be open now. Anyone trying to suggest otherwise doesn’t have a clue. If it could be like LPL I would be 100% behind it.

 

. I’d like to know where the other 6 objections came from in response to SAU.

And I'd like to know why if there were another 6, the SAU didn't make any reference to what they said , only what LBA said (sour grapes!!!) and the owners if Norwich, Exeter etc.

 

It is reported that they are after the passengers "loaned" to LBA/MAN. I thought 3 of the 4 TUI aircraft at DSA were moved to EMA, why are they not after those?

 

It is reported that they are after the passengers "loaned" to LBA/MAN. I thought 3 of the 4 TUI aircraft at DSA were moved to EMA, why are they not after those?

I rather think they are referring to Wizz rather than TUi.