Grounded for good: Operators say Doncaster Sheffield Airport will close and flights will be scrapped from end of October

Following a two-month “strategic review, Peel Group today dashed hopes that DSA could be saved — despite political leaders talking last week of an interested party set to lead a consortium buyout and promising to plough in public money.

The company had said that the commercial viability of the site had become unsustainable.

And today they said flights would begin to wind down from October 31 onwards.

A statement from Peel said: “Regretfully, no tangible proposals have been received regarding the ownership of the airport or which address the fundamental lack of financial viability.

“The high fixed costs associated with running a safe, regulated airport, together with recent events materially reducing prospective future aviation income streams, mean that a break-even business plan cannot be identified for the foreseeable future.

“As a result, DSA will begin winding down the provision of aviation services during the week commencing Monday, October 31.

“DSA will 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.

“Since the July 2022 announcement of the Strategic Review, Peel has been actively engaging on a weekly basis with local and national political stakeholders, including proactively engaging with working group meetings, primarily led by officers at Doncaster Council, South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and the Department for Transport.

“Throughout the consultation process up until today, Peel has also been in close contact with the airlines and other aviation users of the airport.

“None of these discussions has delivered any tangible results that have changed the Board of DSA or Peel’s clear view that the Airport is and will remain unviable.

“Peel received a letter from the Mayor of South Yorkshire and Mayor of Doncaster on Thursday, September 8, stating that they had completed an economic impact study of DSA which identified its economic benefit to the region but provided no solution to its lack of financial viability.

“Furthermore, they informed Peel that they had been approached by a group interested in purchasing or operating the airport.

“Peel has yet to receive a response to urgent requests for details on the consortium's identity, nor have the terms of any proposal or evidence of the consortium's financial standing or aviation expertise been provided.

“On Friday, September 23, Peel received a further letter from SYMCA and Doncaster Council, which was supported by the Mayor of South Yorkshire and the Mayor of Doncaster, along with the Leaders of Barnsley and Rotherham, which included a proposal to provide public money to DSA to fund its operating losses until October 31.

“The grant was described as providing DSA with free cashflow to sustain losses that may occur over 13 months while the Peel Group and South Yorkshire partners jointly explore the future potential of DSA and the GatewayEast site.

“In the absence of any actual proposals to address the lack of viability of DSA, even those at an early stage of development, or any identified potential acquirers or operators of DSA, Peel’s board has concluded that it cannot responsibly accept public money for this highly uncertain process against the backdrop of an unviable, loss-making operating business.”

Peel chairman Robert Hough said: “We recognise that this will come as a great disappointment to many.

“The intractable problem remains the fundamental and insufficient lack of current or prospective revenue streams, together with the airport’s high operating costs.

“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.

“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.”

“Instead, we intend to continue working closely with local and national stakeholders to develop a forward-thinking strategy for the airport site, in conjunction with the £1.7 billion GatewayEast development next door, to help unlock vibrant, job-creating alternatives to ensure future growth and prosperity.

“We have the potential to attract cutting-edge, future-tech businesses to South Yorkshire, but only if we are able to collaborate with our local stakeholders and community in South Yorkshire.”

Doncaster Chamber of Commerce described the news as “very disappointing” in light of offers from businesses and politicians to help fund the airport while work to secure a buyer went ahead.

“In good faith, partners from the local authority, the business community and national government have all been working tirelessly to preserve DSA’s future,” said chief executive Dan Fell.

“Together, the various parties involved developed an extremely generous deal that would have covered DSA’s losses until October 2023 and supported Peel to develop Gateway East.

“Regrettably, in an ill-considered move that will dismay many in the business community, this proposal has been rejected.

“The importance of having a successful airport in the region cannot be overstated.  

“After all, it is critical to our Strategic Economic Plan and has a major impact on the health of our GVA and job market.

“Indeed, our recent economic impact report estimated that the airport could be worth £110 million per annum to the regional economy.

“Whilst this is a major blow for the economy and, undoubtedly a very bad day for South Yorkshire, I would like to reiterate that other economic opportunities for Doncaster and the region remain. Doncaster has bounced back before and will do so again.”