Doncaster Sheffield Airport to Close

DALLAS - The heads of Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) have announced plans to wind down operations before the eventual closure of the airport.

The announcement follows claims that the airport was not turning a significant amount of profit because of the sharp decline in passenger traffic, and the owners expressed uncertainty about how long they would keep the airport operating.

The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) offered to assist keep the airport operational for an additional year, but Doncaster Sheffield denied it. As a result, there is currently no definite date for the closure of the airport, but it is anticipated to happen sooner rather than later, according to travelradar.aero.

The SYMCA’s offer to fund the airport for another year was to be made from public funding, which DSA owner Peel Group declined as they believed it would only be postponing the "inevitable” with funds that could be put to use in other areas within the community.

The Peel Group, a British infrastructure and property investment business based in Manchester, plans to reduce flight DSA frequencies starting on October 31 in order to "wind down" the airport's overall operations.

Local Impact of the Airport Closure

The airport's strategic review was launched in July of this year and came to a disappointing conclusion today. The closure of Doncaster Sheffield Airport (also known as "Robin Hood airport") appeared to be the only "viable" option because “no tangible proposals" have been received about the ownership of the airport or that address the underlying lack of financial sustainability, according to the allegation.

More than 800 airport employees will lose their jobs, and this closure is also expected to have an impact on 2,700 other jobs. The timing could not be worse given that the UK is experiencing an energy crisis that puts millions at risk of higher energy prices, which are predicted to increase again this October.

The people of Sheffield have come together as a result of numerous individuals, including Mayors of Doncaster Ros Jones and his South Yorkshire counterpart, Oliver Coppard, expressing their indignation on social media.

In a key battle to save the airport that connects Doncaster to other cities across the world, a petition with the hashtag #SaveDoncasterAirport was even started two months ago.

Prior to the pandemic, DSA took the best UK airport spot and was placed in the top ten European airports in a leading global airport passenger service and benchmarking survey. DSA, one of two commercial international airports in Yorkshire, handled 1.22 million passengers in 2018. The airport owes its origins to military aviation, having been founded as Finningley Airfield in 1915.

Featured image: DSA