Sheffied Airport going concern?

[nanrobbo 12]

Thank you to you all for your input- now all I have to do is to talk Himself into coming over on a trip with me. Regards Mary

[marinaparkes 10]

herself will come

[nanrobbo 12]

You'd be very welcome sweetheart xx

[Trishtee 10]

Just used Doncaster Airport to Palma. What a breeze. Took us 35 minutes from Whiston. It's really not necessary to use the motorway - just get on to Bawtry Road anywhere and follow it all the way through Maltby to Tickhill then turn right at the Buttercross (past the garden centre) into Bawtry centre, turn left and it's straight on for the airport. We were so early we stopped in Bawtry for lunch (great place for eating).

[behappy 10]

i too used Doncaster for flights to and from Palma - half and hour journey from my house in Sheffield - perfect.

[SCENIC 10]

I have read all the answers, but the REAL reason has yet to be mentioned. All the talk about Sheffield airport not being big enough yet the very same aircraft that flew from Sheffield are now flying from Leeds/Bradford, Hull and I suspect in some cases from 'Robin Hood' airport.

Had it not been for the land grabbing, moneymaking business people and had the airport management got off their arses and got out to bring services in, then Sheffield Airport would and COULD have been a nice little thriving airport by now.

ALL the flights from Sheffield are now being flown SUCCESSFULLY from the other regional airports PLUS other services which could have served Sheffield

[hcmapt 10]

It is a pity that we can't get flights to Spain or Greece, it would be ideal to fly on holiday from there, rather than pay £60 quid for taxis/parking at Midland or Manchester, ontop of flight costs.

Whoever opened the airport up obviously had no long-term business plan.

[ATCO 10]

Lots of misinformation about the airport on here.

 

Sheffield City airport was conceived in the early 1990s. At that time the last airport to open in the UK was London City, with a short runway (1200m) offering short-hop flights to Europe for business folk.

 

The consultants that the City Council engaged for the original study into the airport didn't twig that Sheffield was not a major global commercial centre in the way that London is, nor did they predict the expansion of leisure travel and the rise of the low cost airline based around the Boeing 737 (which need ~2000m runways). Therefore they recommended a city-type airport for Sheffield in the mould of London City. Where they thought the all the business folk would come from to support this kind of operation I don't know. I suspect it was mainly chosen because it was much the cheapest option, but was a terrible choice that would prove to cripple the airport right from the start.

 

So the constrained City airport was built. To save costs it was initially built without a radar - they're expensive pieces of kit and need expensively-trained staff to operate them. KLMuk moved in and offered Amsterdam flights, British Regional offered Dublin and Belfast flights. The airport looked like it might hit critical mass. However it was still without radar: plans were being put in place but were moving too slowly because of the investment required. In the end KLM pulled out because the Dutch pilots' union was not happy operating into a non-radar airport. This was a crippling blow as any justification to get radar promptly went. The Dublin flights went next, Sabena had a short unsuccesful attempt at Brussels flights, and finally BRAL pulled the Belfast flights. Thus ended the story of scheduled passenger flights at Sheffield City.

 

The airport is a handy little General Aviation airport these days (smaller privately-owned aircraft and helicopters - not exclusive, I have a share in one, I am not rich and thus I drive a battered car ). It still does benefit Sheffield's economy in a small way - having a dedicated General Aviation airport is a sign of an important city - Manchester for instance has one at Barton. Senior business folk like the proximity of the airport to the city and Meadowhall, however the high fees charged by the airport put some people off. MrH suggests that these are a legacy of its high cost base from its international airport days.

 

At the end of the day office blocks make more money than small airports, so the writing really is on the wall for the airport, which is a great shame. It's history now, sadly, forget about it, and long live Finningley. Now Sheffield finally has its name on a proper airport.

 

 

As for Ryanair operating BAe 146s, it did inherit KLMUK's 146s, however it scrapped them as quickly as it could because they were too expensive to operate in their low cost model. Currently only FlyBE attempts to operate a low-cost airline with aircraft that could have operated into Sheffield, however it is scrapping its 146s too (it will continue to operate the Bombardier Dash 8 Q-400 which can get into Sheffield though).

[Little_Alex 10]

It was never going to be anything apart from what it is now a heli port and police police traffic centre, I actually worked on the groundwork around it in between jobs.. I flew to Amsterdam from it and it was ace .wrong location and little thought from our good old Sheffield council, what a shame but I like the Donny idea, an ideal location

[inquizative 10]

Originally posted by ATCO

Lots of misinformation about the airport on here.

 

Sheffield City airport was conceived in the early 1990s. At that time the last airport to open in the UK was London City, with a short runway (1200m) offering short-hop flights to Europe for business folk.

 

The consultants that the City Council engaged for the original study into the airport didn't twig that Sheffield was not a major global commercial centre in the way that London is, nor did they predict the expansion of leisure travel and the rise of the low cost airline based around the Boeing 737 (which need ~2000m runways). Therefore they recommended a city-type airport for Sheffield in the mould of London City. Where they thought the all the business folk would come from to support this kind of operation I don't know. I suspect it was mainly chosen because it was much the cheapest option, but was a terrible choice that would prove to cripple the airport right from the start.

 

So the constrained City airport was built. To save costs it was initially built without a radar - they're expensive pieces of kit and need expensively-trained staff to operate them. KLMuk moved in and offered Amsterdam flights, British Regional offered Dublin and Belfast flights. The airport looked like it might hit critical mass. However it was still without radar: plans were being put in place but were moving too slowly because of the investment required. In the end KLM pulled out because the Dutch pilots' union was not happy operating into a non-radar airport. This was a crippling blow as any justification to get radar promptly went. The Dublin flights went next, Sabena had a short unsuccesful attempt at Brussels flights, and finally BRAL pulled the Belfast flights. Thus ended the story of scheduled passenger flights at Sheffield City.

 

The airport is a handy little General Aviation airport these days (smaller privately-owned aircraft and helicopters - not exclusive, I have a share in one, I am not rich and thus I drive a battered car ). It still does benefit Sheffield's economy in a small way - having a dedicated General Aviation airport is a sign of an important city - Manchester for instance has one at Barton. Senior business folk like the proximity of the airport to the city and Meadowhall, however the high fees charged by the airport put some people off. MrH suggests that these are a legacy of its high cost base from its international airport days.

 

At the end of the day office blocks make more money than small airports, so the writing really is on the wall for the airport, which is a great shame. It's history now, sadly, forget about it, and long live Finningley. Now Sheffield finally has its name on a proper airport.

 

 

As for Ryanair operating BAe 146s, it did inherit KLMUK's 146s, however it scrapped them as quickly as it could because they were too expensive to operate in their low cost model. Currently only FlyBE attempts to operate a low-cost airline with aircraft that could have operated into Sheffield, however it is scrapping its 146s too (it will continue to operate the Bombardier Dash 8 Q-400 which can get into Sheffield though).

[inquizative 10]

Originally posted by inquizative

[/by]

you are right about misinformation on sheffield airport the city had an airport in the 1930's at norton but could not look to the future and all the years they were talking about needing an airport allowed the multi story flats to be built so stopping the site to be used as an airport the atempt to build one latter only succeeded in making big proffits for the contracor who took out all the coal and then went bust laughing all the way to the bank I think it was never intended to make a success of the airport just wait till 2006 and get the whole site dirt cheap to redevelope to more profitable use I understand it's the same peole who own doncaster that owned sheffield so is doncaster a short term also :suspect:was norton ignored as it was in derbyshire and like the present airport was outside the sheffield boundries and could not change them like they did for the [Rotherham]airport

[muddycoffee 10]

Originally posted by inquizative

you are right about misinformation on sheffield airport the city had an airport in the 1930's at norton

 

You are the one with the mis information.

Norton never had an airport. People are wrong when they call it an Aerodrome too. It was an RAF station where barrage ballons were stationed and that's what the hangers were for, there was never a runway..

 

See this post for an eye witness account

 

Infact your whole post is total nonsense..