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...?

 

I haven’t read it all yet, but I’d be surprised if they were able to give preferential treatment, because they are short of capacity to process airspace changes and therefore it would be at the expense of other applications.

As for the job vacancies, again that’s very interesting. They are looking for Tower and Radar controllers, which suggests the previous setup at Liverpool is off the cards. Has Peel declined to provide Radar services from Liverpool as previously? If so, why?

Without wishing to imply it’s not a good salary relative to some other jobs, £55-65k is very poor for a Radar qualified ATCO. In fact it’s pretty much bottom of the barrel, and I would be very surprised if they could poach from Humberside or anywhere else. They likely won’t get many of the old DSA staff to return because they are all earning more elsewhere, or they don’t have the Radar qualification. If they do somehow manage to staff the unit, then they will constantly lose staff to other airports (nearby or elsewhere), where experienced Radar controllers earn six figures.

Something tells me this is why they are trying to encourage the CAA to reinstate rather than re-evaluate, understandably if this was possible they’d have a reasonable argument for fast tracking. Seems this is not possible now under the amendment to CAP1616? The CAA also appear to caution over likely delays to licence issue outside of the CDC timescale.

I’m not sure what the salaries are HUY are like, I understand it attracts only local people and those looking for a comfortable semi/retirement gig. It’s not H24 so the hours may be more attractive. Only issue will be that if HUY lose one or two it will result in them struggling. Public sector distortion? Probably tricky to prove on that one, but a risk nonetheless. Hear what you’re saying though, be hard to recruit for that endless they find a number of locals keen on returning.

I’ve seen these positions being shared on LinkedIn, no shares by any ATCO related people (apart from a Heathrow watch manager) but lots of likes by people with spurious titles in non related industries.

TUI CEO has reaffirmed at a travel trade event that they are in discussions with the people reopening the airport. Steve Heapy is quoted as saying ‘always in discussions with airports’ and that he wouldn’t announce anything in a public forum. Typical response that was also used when DSA was open previously.

 

does not look like there will be any legal challenge.
the 2nd legal challenge brought under section 70 of the Subsidy Control Act failed yesterday, just like the first .

 

does not look like there will be any legal challenge.
the 2nd legal challenge brought under section 70 of the Subsidy Control Act failed yesterday, just like the first .

What are you on about?

For anyone interested the problem with the first two non aviation challenges under the SCA (2022) appear to have been completely unrelated to the blatant market distortion that DSA is purporting to support in plain sight. One recently failed challenge thrown out at CAT was over a loan made by Greater Manchester MCA to a property developer that was below commercial interest rates. That was it.

The BRS vs Welsh Government over the subsidy to CWL is ongoing and various commercial lawyers are watching that one with interest. As yet there has been mo move to challenge the subsidy to DSA, however of the airports that could be impacted only Vince Hodder at LBA has openly discussed the matter and he hasn’t commented on whether any formal legal challenges will be lodged.

Bit daft to draw a conclusion then, once again unsurprisingly posted without any context whatsoever, that a legal challenge would fail in this instance.

 

does not look like there will be any legal challenge.
the 2nd legal challenge brought under section 70 of the Subsidy Control Act failed yesterday, just like the first .

What legal challenge? By who?

 

does not look like there will be any legal challenge.
the 2nd legal challenge brought under section 70 of the Subsidy Control Act failed yesterday, just like the first .

No legal challenge has been put forward re DSA as yet on competition grounds - let alone a 2nd legal challenge..
Further the test case in respect of BRS and Cardiff is still to be heard and it is likely the result of this which will determine any course of action over DSA by any other competitor airports…
Interesting also to see the CEO of Cardiff has walked away from his role and they are now on their third in less than a year - airports really do thrive under public ownership…….https://www.business-live.co.uk/enterprise/new-chief-executive-welsh-government-32622708.amp

 

Doncaster Sheffield Airport: International investors reveal interest - with "vast sums" pledge

International investors say they are ready to put "vast sums" into the Doncaster Sheffield Airport reopening project, The Yorkshire Post can reveal.

www.yorkshirepost.co.uk

Private sector investor possibly on the cards. I want to say now that if this is a serious bidder this could completely change the game.

There is a but though… The mention of a UAE investor who had previously expressed interest in purchasing the site from Peel makes me think this is that ‘consortium’ led by Mahmood Khaleel Al Hashmi who refused to offer Peel the going rate and also refused to reveal where his group of investors came from. Concerns were raised that it was Russian backed. If this is the case I suspect the same due dilligence would be required to see it through.

One suspects this has been leaked by his team rather than SYMCA or CDC owing to the fact that CDC hadn’t been able to provide a statement prior to the YP publishing this. Will be interesting to see what transpires, but it’s clearly a tactical move by the investors to strong arm. Wonder whether Peel would take any interest in selling this time around..

 

Any business is subject to due diligence, part of this is validating SOW/SOF (source of wealth and funds) this process includes identification of people and entities and screening for sanctions. In addition, understanding the nature of the business, corporate structure, and associated shell companies/entities, so if there is Russian involvement, links to any prohibited person or business in the corporate structure this will come to light.

 

Any business is subject to due diligence, part of this is validating SOW/SOF (source of wealth and funds) this process includes identification of people and entities and screening for sanctions. In addition, understanding the nature of the business, corporate structure, and associated shell companies/entities, so if there is Russian involvement, links to any prohibited person or business in the corporate structure this will come to light.

All as understood. However I do smell a rat.

Why has this been leaked to the local press? Looks like the ‘interested consortium’ have done it. Also appears that nothing has been agreed as yet as they’re still considering either a wholesale buyout or a public/private enterprise. If Peel wouldn’t sell to them before why would they now?

What is the stance of FlyDoncaster in this? They previously parted company with Fly Plymouth over a dispute regarding share holding.

Why do they talk about a green energy solution to power the site? Seems a bit off topic. What people want is a credible investor who can bring in airlines, but ‘global reach’ seems very far fetched.

If something seems too good to be true then it probably is. The mechanic has latched onto this to silence the ‘naysayers’ but actually at the moment it looks like he doesn’t know anything about it either.

Suspect CDC will use this as leverage ahead of full council in November, although I note that there is to be an extraordinary full council on 24th October. Wonder whether this is related. All we can do is speculate at the moment.

 

All as understood. However I do smell a rat.

Why has this been leaked to the local press? Looks like the ‘interested consortium’ have done it. Also appears that nothing has been agreed as yet as they’re still considering either a wholesale buyout or a public/private enterprise. If Peel wouldn’t sell to them before why would they now?

What is the stance of FlyDoncaster in this? They previously parted company with Fly Plymouth over a dispute regarding share holding.

Why do they talk about a green energy solution to power the site? Seems a bit off topic. What people want is a credible investor who can bring in airlines, but ‘global reach’ seems very far fetched.

If something seems too good to be true then it probably is. The mechanic has latched onto this to silence the ‘naysayers’ but actually at the moment it looks like he doesn’t know anything about it either.

Suspect CDC will use this as leverage ahead of full council in November, although I note that there is to be an extraordinary full council on 24th October. Wonder whether this is related. All we can do is speculate at the moment.

Apparently this was brought up at the last Q&A review Coppard hosted and as I understand it this offer has been on the table for a while now and not taken up so far…..If it had been a credible offer and SYMC had known about it when they signed offer the business case it should have been declared then….The statement does say “the consortium says the group "made clear" to local political leaders its ambition to either acquire the Doncaster Sheffield Airport site and surrounding land or enter into a public/private joint partnership prior to last month’s decision to release £160m in devolution funding”…..
All sounds very fishy to me and not credible……Also I’d have thought if this was a serious offer they’d be under NDA…..

 

Doncaster Sheffield Airport: International investors reveal interest - with "vast sums" pledge

International investors say they are ready to put "vast sums" into the Doncaster Sheffield Airport reopening project, The Yorkshire Post can reveal.

www.yorkshirepost.co.uk

Private sector investor possibly on the cards. I want to say now that if this is a serious bidder this could completely change the game.

There is a but though… The mention of a UAE investor who had previously expressed interest in purchasing the site from Peel makes me think this is that ‘consortium’ led byMahmood Khaleel Al Hashmi who refused to offer Peel the going rate and also refused to reveal where his group of investors came from. Concerns were raised that it was Russian backed. If this is the case I suspect the same due dilligence would be required to see it through.

One suspects this has been leaked by his team rather than SYMCA or CDC owing to the fact that CDC hadn’t been able to provide a statement prior to the YP publishing this. Will be interesting to see what transpires, but it’s clearly a tactical move by the investors to strong arm. Wonder whether Peel would take any interest in selling this time around..

if there is a takeover bid, mahmood Khaleel Al hashmi will be a frontman, just like Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim,was for the takeover of manchester city. at the time the the gulf newspapesr had a different take on the bid, they had Peel refusing to sell.

 

if there is a takeover bid, mahmood Khaleel Al hashmi will be a frontman, just like Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim,was for the takeover of manchester city. at the time the the gulf newspapesr had a different take on the bid, they had Peel refusing to sell.

No, they had Peel not interested in selling for 50% of the value. They also refused to provide evidence of source of funding. As HX3 outlined above this is a pre-requisite.

Apparently this was brought up at the last Q&A review Coppard hosted and as I understand it this offer has been on the table for a while now and not taken up so far…..If it had been a credible offer and SYMC had known about it when they signed offer the business case it should have been declared then….The statement does say “the consortium says the group "made clear" to local political leaders its ambition to either acquire the Doncaster Sheffield Airport site and surrounding land or enter into a public/private joint partnership prior to last month’s decision to release £160m in devolution funding”…..
All sounds very fishy to me and not credible……Also I’d have thought if this was a serious offer they’d be under NDA…..

Yes I interpreted it the same way. They clearly tactically issued a statement because it appears their approach isn’t being taken as seriously by SYMCA or CDC. Could be wrong of course, and it’ll be interesting to see what CDC say about it this week, but it could weaken their position ahead of the Council vote next month if it appears they’re rebuffing interest from the private sector.

FWIW I don’t think this is credible at all, otherwise SYMCA would have pursued this in the first instance.

 

No, they had Peel not interested in selling for 50% of the value. They also refused to provide evidence of source of funding. As HX3 outlined above this is a pre-requisite.


Yes I interpreted it the same way. They clearly tactically issued a statement because it appears their approach isn’t being taken as seriously by SYMCA or CDC. Could be wrong of course, and it’ll be interesting to see what CDC say about it this week, but it could weaken their position ahead of the Council vote next month if it appears they’re rebuffing interest from the private sector.

FWIW I don’t think this is credible at all, otherwise SYMCA would have pursued this in the first instance.

Ajman’s bid for regional UK airport stumbles​

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Issue 1159 - 23 Nov 2022 | 2 minute read

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A reported bid by an Ajman-based consortium to buy Doncaster Sheffield Airport in the United Kingdom from the local Peel Group appears to have failed, after the approach was blocked by the current owner

anyway as snackbar said no one would be interested in buying DSA.
then again nearly everyone on here had DSA never reopening, and LBA having its own train station !
maybe they should get the mechanic to start a facebook page for the station.

 

Ajman’s bid for regional UK airport stumbles​

---

Issue 1159 - 23 Nov 2022 | 2 minute read

​

A reported bid by an Ajman-based consortium to buy Doncaster Sheffield Airport in the United Kingdom from the local Peel Group appears to have failed, after the approach was blocked by the current owner

The Daily Telegraph has reported that a bid by a consortium from the Middle East has not gone through because the current owners Peel, say they cannot verify the source of the funding for the proposed deal.
The Telegraph reports a prominent businessman in the United Arab Emirates is leading a consortium, and that the bidder has insisted he has provided all the relevent details, but is not interested in bidding unless they are allowed to carry out further ‘due diligence’ on the airport.Lawyers are reported to have sent proof of funds to Peel on Monday, but it reported it did not meet their requirements, with Peel said to be wanting to avoid Russian connections following the invasion of Ukraine.

Bid to buy Doncaster Sheffield Airport stuck over questions over the source of money, according to reports

A bid to buy Doncaster Sheffield Airport has got stuck over the question of where the money is coming from, according to reports.

www.britishaviationgroup.co.uk

There was a follow up article that I posted at the time that had more detail from the UAE source which stated that they were a ‘reluctant buyer’ and Peel were a ‘reluctant seller’. Clearly they were offering way below the rate at which Peel would be happy to sell, along with questions over where the money was coming from.

Teesside confirms that Peel will sell for the right price. They have clearly not been offered that price hence the value of the lease as agreed with CDC/FlyDoncaster.

It’s moronic to continue this anti-Peel sentiment now. The money has almost been released, it’s time to put this nonsense to bed and watch it unfold for all to see.

 

Ajman’s bid for regional UK airport stumbles​

---

Issue 1159 - 23 Nov 2022 | 2 minute read

​

A reported bid by an Ajman-based consortium to buy Doncaster Sheffield Airport in the United Kingdom from the local Peel Group appears to have failed, after the approach was blocked by the current owner

anyway as snackbar said no one would be interested in buying DSA.
then again nearly everyone on here had DSA never reopening, and LBA having its own train station !
maybe they should get the mechanic to start a facebook page for the station.

You mean this station which is currently being progressed through a cost review prior to full business case sign off by WYCA…..Suspect armchair experts aren’t needed at WYCA or LBA….https://westyorkshire.moderngov.co.uk/documents/g1401/Decisions%2030th-Jan-2025%2011.00%20West%20Yorkshire%20Combined%20Authority.pdf?T=2
And just to add nobody credible is interested in buying DSA……

 

Doncaster Sheffield Airport: Council confirms it has been 'engaging' with international investors

Council officials have confirmed they have been “engaging” with international investors over the future of Doncaster Sheffield Airport - but say their current focus is on the reopening process rather than striking any imminent deals.

www.yorkshirepost.co.uk

Seems to all but confirm it is the ‘investor group’ who were apparently interested in buying DSA previously but offered peanuts and couldn’t satisfactorily prove where those peanuts were coming from!

Anyhow CDC appear to be keeping them at arms length. So clearly this ‘investor group’ really is too good to be true.

 

Doncaster Sheffield Airport: Council confirms it has been 'engaging' with international investors

Council officials have confirmed they have been “engaging” with international investors over the future of Doncaster Sheffield Airport - but say their current focus is on the reopening process rather than striking any imminent deals.

www.yorkshirepost.co.uk

Seems to all but confirm it is the ‘investor group’ who were apparently interested in buying DSA previously but offered peanuts and couldn’t satisfactorily prove where those peanuts were coming from!

Anyhow CDC appear to be keeping them at arms length. So clearly this ‘investor group’ really is too good to be true.

Sooooo no news then?

Swear this is an old rumour / done the rounds before maybe a year ago?

If it was a plausible offer / interest CDC would snap there hands off? Risking 160million of public money is crazy, but obviously a small Facebook group want it to open and think it will be a success, then so be it!

 

You can guarantee that there'll be lots of non news and old regurgitated news in the media on a regular basis, just to keep DSA in the limelight. They won't want long periods of quiet, especially with target airports nearby expanding.

 

Begging bowls are out again for yet more public money - https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/new...t-by-investing-in-road-infrastructure-5361258

Strange really - all the DSA supporters have been keen to point out the fantastic road links this airport already has…….

 

Begging bowls are out again for yet more public money - https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/new...t-by-investing-in-road-infrastructure-5361258

Strange really - all the DSA supporters have been keen to point out the fantastic road links this airport already has…….

Surprised the link from JCT4 hasn’t been mooted yet actually. People have spoken about that for years because it’s another one where it’s only a junction to north Doncaster and the entire eastern side of the motorway is undeveloped. Suspect it’s only a matter of time, of course some bright spark will suggest it makes it closer to the sea ports, presumably they’ve discovered a market in flying freight in so they can ship it straight out again on boats or something.

 

Surprised the link from JCT4 hasn’t been mooted yet actually. People have spoken about that for years because it’s another one where it’s only a junction to north Doncaster and the entire eastern side of the motorway is undeveloped. Suspect it’s only a matter of time, of course some bright spark will suggest it makes it closer to the sea ports, presumably they’ve discovered a market in flying freight in so they can ship it straight out again on boats or something.

A link from jCT4 would actually make more sense if trying to attract traffic from the north and west - even without any roadworks the Doncaster A1 by pass and in fact the A1 all the way up to the M62 is a nightmare most of the time…..Often when heading down to the area around DSA from West Yorks the quickest route has often been to go right across to the M62/M18 junction…