Doncaster Sheffield airport to close after no ‘tangible proposals’ put forward
Doncaster Sheffield airport is to close later this year, its owners have confirmed, despite the offer of financial aid from public funds. This leaves hundreds of staff facing redundancy and comes days after Liz Truss said she had instructed ministers to protect the airport. The airport’s owners, the Peel Group, which had extended a public consultation period by 10 days, said a strategic review had ended without any clear proposals on the airport site’s financial viability, or a potential buyer. They said the high costs of running the airport, whose flight numbers have fallen by more than half since 2019, meant it would start winding down operations from 31st October. Peel is in consultation with staff about losing their jobs. Local politicians wanted the government to provide more public money for it, but at present the UK government has massive and increasing debts, partly from capping household and business energy costs, and no cash to spare. Peel realises subsidising a permanently loss-making airport is not a sensible use of scarce public funds. It has made big losses since the start of the pandemic, and there are other airports in the area (Leeds, Manchester) that travellers can easily use.
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Doncaster Sheffield airport to close after no ‘tangible proposals’ put forward
Yorkshire mayor calls on PM to intervene over decision which leaves hundreds of staff at risk of losing jobs
By Gwyn Topham, Transport correspondent (The Guardian)
@GwynTopham
Mon 26 Sep 2022
Doncaster Sheffield airport (DSA) is to close later this year, its owners have confirmed, despite the offer of financial aid from public funds.
Local politicians said they were devastated by the decision by the Peel Group, which leaves hundreds of staff facing redundancy and comes days after the new prime minister, Liz Truss, said she had instructed ministers to protect the airport.
The Peel Group, which had extended a public consultation period by 10 days, said a strategic review had ended without any clear proposals on the airport site’s financial viability, or a potential buyer.
Peel said the high costs of running Doncaster Sheffield, whose flight numbers have fallen by more than half since 2019, meant the airport would start winding down operations from 31 October.
The company is in consultation with staff, with hundreds of people working at the airport at risk of losing their jobs.
Local politicians hit out at the decision. South Yorkshire’s mayor, Oliver Coppard, said: “I’m devastated by today’s announcement by Peel and angry about the impact it will have on our communities.”
He said he hoped the prime minister would intervene. “Liz Truss said she would protect the airport. Now is the moment to turn those words into action.”
Coppard said the airport had received public money for years but had turned down the offer of continued support, as well as the chance to meet potential news investors.
He said: “The fact that they chose to turn our offer down simply confirms what many of us suspected: that Peel was never serious about finding an alternative and safeguarding the future of DSA.
“It is still not too late for them to do the right thing; for them to reconsider their decision for the sake of those employees, businesses and communities directly impacted by this appalling decision.”
Peel Group said it had received a letter from the mayor’s office earlier this month, saying a group interested in buying the airport had come forward, but it had not received any more details about this potential purchaser.
The company added: “Regretfully, no tangible proposals have been received regarding the ownership of the airport or which address the fundamental lack of financial viability.”
Peel said the offer of public funds to cover its operating losses until the end of October 2023, while a new owner was found, would be an inappropriate way to spend public money “against the backdrop of an unviable, loss-making operating business”.
The airport opened in 2005, converted by Peel from the former RAF Finningley airbase. The owners have said that DSA never attracted near enough passengers to be profitable.
The airport was hit by the collapse in air travel during the Covid-19 pandemic and the loss of flights from two budget airlines, Flybe and Wizz Air. Flybe went bust in early 2020 and Wizz Air ceased flights from DSA in June, leaving Tui as the only carrier using its facilities.
According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, about 4,600 flights took off from DSA in 2019, mainly Wizz Air and Flybe, but just 1,817 were scheduled in 2021.
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Doncaster Sheffield airport to close
By Harry Kemble (Travel Weekly)
September 26th, 2022,
Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) is to close due to “a fundamental lack of financial viability”.
Peel Group, which owns the airport, said the site would wind down from October 31.
It added that following a strategic review “no tangible proposals” had been received regarding the ownership of the airport or “which address the fundamental lack of financial viability”.
“High fixed costs” linked to running a “safe, regulated airport” were also blamed by Peel Group for the decision and that a “break-even business plan” could not be identified.
It added that it would continue “to work closely with airport customers and other users to explain the impact of this service reduction and work with them to minimise the disruption to their operations and customers”.
Last Friday, South Yorkshire’s political leaders offered public money to keep DSA operating into 2023.
The airport employs around 800 people and Peel Group confirmed it was in contact with union representatives.
Following the withdrawal of Wizz Air from the hub, an appeal was launched by local politicians to keep the site open in the summer.
Announcing the decision to wind down the airport today (September 26), Peel Group chief executive Steven Underwood said: “We understand that our announcement will be difficult to hear for the Doncaster and wider South Yorkshire communities in which we have worked and invested for over two decades.
“However, as has been seen many times before in industries undergoing structural change, although change brings uncertainty it can also bring significant opportunity.”
Underwood warned that accepting funds from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) would have “postponed the inevitable for another 13 months” but it would “divert funds away from services on which communities throughout South Yorkshire rely”.
Chairman of the Peel Airports Group, Robert Hough, said: “We recognise that this will come as a great disappointment to many. Our employees have always been DSA’s greatest asset and we are grateful to them all, past and present, for their dedication and diligence over the years. The immediate priority remains to continue engaging closely with them over the next few weeks.
“As such, DSA will now begin a formal process of consulting with team members.”
He added: “We will do everything we can to minimise the impact of these proposals and work closely with local authorities and agencies to support our employees through what we know will be an extremely difficult period.
“DSA has remained in contact with union representatives on site throughout and we are committed to ensuring they are updated through every step of this next phase.”
Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen, who saw off Peel over a similar closure plan at Teesside International, said: “My heart goes out to staff at Doncaster Sheffield Airport, with hundreds of jobs now at risk due to this unfortunate announcement, and to those local people who have lost their airport on Peel’s watch.”
https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/air/doncaster-sheffield-to-close
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See earlier:
Doncaster Sheffield Airport: Mayor wants more government help on plan
27.7.2022
The airport opened as an international commercial airport in 2005. The mayor of South Yorkshire has called on the government to change its “short-sighted hands-off” approach to helping secure the future of Doncaster Sheffield Airport. Oliver Coppard said the government was invited to be part of a working group, but had “sadly declined”. A consultation on the airport began recently after directors said it “may no longer be commercially viable”. The government said it was in “close contact” with the airport. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps had previously suggested South Yorkshire’s mayor could follow the example of Teesside Airport, which was taken over by the regional mayor in 2019. He said public ownership for the airport should be considered. Members of the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, Doncaster Council and representatives from airport owners Peel Group met on Monday. The future of the airport was put in doubt after directors said it had “never achieved the critical mass required to become profitable”, citing issues including Covid and the impact of airline Wizz Air cancelling flights.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-62308415
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