Mayor Takes Step Towards Reopening Doncaster Sheffield Airport

[Longcol 608]

Can't see that their is a big enough local population to support an airport given the proximity of East Midlands, Leeds /Bradford and Manchester.

 

Population of East Midlands (excluding Lincs) over 3 million, West Yorks 2.3  million, Greater Manchester 2.8 million,.

 

South Yorks 1.4 million - and from Barnsley,  Leeds / Bradford as accessible as Doncaster.

 

Sheffield is a sub-regional centre surrounded by bigger fish.

 

 

[Guest busdriver1]

8 hours ago, Longcol said:

Can't see that their is a big enough local population to support an airport given the proximity of East Midlands, Leeds /Bradford and Manchester.

 

Population of East Midlands (excluding Lincs) over 3 million, West Yorks 2.3  million, Greater Manchester 2.8 million,.

 

South Yorks 1.4 million - and from Barnsley,  Leeds / Bradford as accessible as Doncaster.

 

Sheffield is a sub-regional centre surrounded by bigger fish.

 

 

Exactly, then factor in the cost for an airline to locate to Doncaster. (Ground crew , Maintenance facilities etc)  Just to satisfy the desire of a few local politicians to have a vanity project and hope it spins off into new jobs. I dont see airlines rushing to sign up.

[geared 319]

22 hours ago, hackey lad said:

Be someone else's fault .

Privitise the profits, socialise the losses.

[Baron99 809]

On 15/02/2024 at 21:46, Longcol said:

Can't see that their is a big enough local population to support an airport given the proximity of East Midlands, Leeds /Bradford and Manchester.

 

Population of East Midlands (excluding Lincs) over 3 million, West Yorks 2.3  million, Greater Manchester 2.8 million,.

 

South Yorks 1.4 million - and from Barnsley,  Leeds / Bradford as accessible as Doncaster.

 

Sheffield is a sub-regional centre surrounded by bigger fish.

 

 

Just turn the thing into a dedicated freight hub operating 24 hours a day. 

 

And just call it Doncaster Airport. 

[Irene Swaine 1,072]

On 05/02/2024 at 16:04, SheffieldForum said:

South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, has announced that the region will take a major step toward re-opening Doncaster-Sheffield Airport (DSA) and allow for a 10-year plan to drive economic growth, subject to the decision of the Mayoral Combined Authority Board on 13 February 2024.

Fifteen months since DSA was closed by owners Peel Group, the Mayor, City of Doncaster Council and the Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) have been working tirelessly in the interests of the public and businesses in South Yorkshire to find a way to re-open it that is legally and financially sound and protects the taxpayer.

Last summer, the MCA awarded City of Doncaster Council £3.1 million to prepare an Outline Business Case to take control of the airport through a leasing arrangement, re-establish operations under a new business model, and use the asset as an anchor for growth at the wider Gateway East site to support economic regeneration and benefits to the city and region as a whole.

The Outline Business Case, published today, states that re-opening the airport provides the best opportunity to secure economic growth and well-being not just in Doncaster but will have wider benefits for South Yorkshire as a whole. 
 

More: https://southyorkshire-ca.gov.uk/news/article/2b1a1a33-b81d-421b-a9d1-d9e86547d585

The people of South Yorkshire didn't use it. Yorkshire has a much more popular airport in Leeds-Bradford. I would rather Mr Coppard focussed his attention on improving the things that people actually want.

[Baron99 809]

Looks like Donny Airport might be back in business in the near future? 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-68625426

 

Pity SCC won't be allowing any advertising on their billboards for it though. 

[geared 319]

138 million quid is a hell of a gamble.

 

Let's hope we're not back here in a year or two wondering what to do when it goes belly up again?

[hackey lad 3,987]

1 hour ago, Baron99 said:

Looks like Donny Airport might be back in business in the near future? 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-68625426

 

Pity SCC won't be allowing any advertising on their billboards for it though. 

Bit upsetting that . No photo of a smiling Oliver Coppard.

[HeHasRisen 3,410]

1 hour ago, geared said:

138 million quid is a hell of a gamble.

 

Let's hope we're not back here in a year or two wondering what to do when it goes belly up again?

We all know this likely ends in tears again, no low cost airline is likely going to throw major resources at it when they have bases nearby. 

 

Will likely end up with a KLM turboprop daily service to Amsterdam, TUI perhaps putting their one plane back there, and maybe a non-base Ryanair flight from Dublin, and that's about it. Can't imagine Wizz are going to want to faff around returning there. 

[Baron99 809]

2 hours ago, geared said:

138 million quid is a hell of a gamble.

 

Let's hope we're not back here in a year or two wondering what to do when it goes belly up again?

Look North interviewed The Independent's travel correspondent, Simon Calder tonight.  He wished it well given the money promised but said don't expect much this year.  He forecast that planes might be taking off by Easter 2025?

 

He also said the worrying thing is the airport doesn't appear to have been missed by the public during the time its been mothballed, given the proximity of other airports.  The only pluses he could see was that it could be used as an overspill for the likes of Manchester & Leeds / Bradford so that congestion could be eased at these airports. 

 

I said it a few posts back.  I'd just have it as a designated freight airport 24 hours a day.  That would put it ahead of the likes of East Midlands, which only takes freight mainly at night. 

[Irene Swaine 1,072]

It's also in a difficult location to get to on public transport. East Midlands, Birmingham, Luton & Heathrow all have railway stations. Leeds Bradford is said to have a stifled flow of passengers because of its location.

[hauxwell 244]

I’m sure that’s why Newcastle Airport is so busy because of the excellent train links.  The Metro runs directly from Newcastle central train station and it goes inside the airport.