Doncaster Sheffield - General Thread

[Aviador]

For once a report that seems quite balanced all in all without the usual spin we're so used to seeing, however, just because "There is significant interest from a number of airlines." doesn't for one minute mean that they are guaranteed any new flights. Airline representatives that visit the airport will be concerned as to why the airport has failed to take off in a big way despite the initial huge investment made by Thomson's. The fact that Thomson's chose to consolidate both their Coventry and Doncaster bases suggests that those airports were the weakest performers hence why those bases had aircraft withdrawn in their latest cull. New airlines have a difficult choice to make. They can chance it, use the super facilities there and hope they pull it off or decide to operate from a more favorable airport that has a proven track record.

 

[pug]

They can chance it, use the super facilities there and hope they pull it off or decide to operate from a more favorable airport that has a proven track record.

Which unfortunately puts HUY out of the picture aswell.

Some interesting comments on the local rag websites about HUY and the fact Doncaster 'should never have gone ahead' etc...

For some reason i get the feeling Jet2 may just be more than interested in DSA though...

 

[pug]

FURTHER to the letter from an unnamed reader concerning comments made approximately seven years ago regarding future lack of opportunities at Sheffield City Airport ('1,650 per cent more arrivals at London', letters, March 3).
My comments at the time that low-cost, short-haul flights would be the big growth sector have, in fact, been proven to be true.

Airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet now do dominate the short-haul European airline market. The point I made in August 2001, was that opportunities to develop niche services into Sheffield City with restrictions on the type of aircraft that can operate from there due to its short runway, would decrease considerably as the market for low cost operations using larger aircaft increased dramatically.

No-one could predict September 11, nor the decision of the two remaining routes at Sheffield City Airport, to be closed by the airlines after September 11.

Comparisons between the UK's newest airport at Doncaster Sheffield and London City Airport are like comparing apples and pears.

Firstly, because the demand for services to London as the capital are naturally higher than for services to Sheffield; secondly because London City Airport is a well-established airport that has been operating for over 21 years; and thirdly, because London City's runway is 1,558 metres long, whilst Sheffield City's was only 1,199 metres. Doncaster Sheffield Airport, with its 3,000 metre long runway, is less than four years-old.

The only comparison I would make is that London City Airport was handling less than a quarter of a million passsengers per year in its fourth year, whereas Doncaster Sheffield Airport already carried just under one million passengers last year.

Neil Pakey, Deputy CEO, Peel Airports Group

Source; the sheffield star

 

[Aviador]

DSA does not have a runway 3000m long at all. That is definitely not true. Usual tripe coming from Peel.

The runway at Doncaster is 2893m which is exactly the same length as that at EMA. I'd go on but it makes my blood boil. :bad:

 

[pug]

If you were to disect his letter you would pick faults and Peel spin in every sentence.

The problem is that most people reading it will not have an interest like us and are less likely to realise his crap.

My comments at the time that low-cost, short-haul flights would be the big growth sector have, in fact, been proven to be true.

That is complete smugness and in fact have not been proved to be true. Low-cost airlines have grown yes, look at other short haul european airlines which havehad a huge boost. Eastern being one of many. The fact is, had Peel offered a deal at SZD that they probably offered at DSA, to attract KLM, i can imagine KLM would have been at SZD now. Add to that FLYBe. I mean look at DSA, its hardly got into the low-cost boom itself has it? FR reductions, TOM going back to charter.

The only comparison I would make is that London City Airport was handling less than a quarter of a million passsengers per year in its fourth year, whereas Doncaster Sheffield Airport already carried just under one million passengers last year.

Failing to remember times before the LCY runway extension? Failing to mention the large drop in pax this year and in the next few years?

Failing to point out that when LCY opened there were a limited number of worthwhile a/c capable of operating
into there?

Firstly, because the demand for services to London as the capital are naturally higher than for services to Sheffield; secondly because London City Airport is a well-established airport that has been operating for over 21 years

Yes and is demand for services to Doncaster likely to be higher than Sheffield? Sheffield was not allowed to become established!

 

[pug]

More Route and Flight Cuts at Dublin
AS GOVT OWNED IAA RAISES FEES 12%

Ryanair, Ireland’s largest airline, today (16th Mar) announced a further series of route, flight and frequency cuts at Dublin Airport from July, as the impact of the €10 tourist tax and other Government price hikes cause numbers at Dublin to decline – down 12% in February alone. Ryanair confirmed that these latest cuts were being implemented in response to the decision of the Government owned Irish Aviation Authority to increase ATC charges by 12% this summer, at more than 12 times the rate of inflation.

From July 2009 Ryanair will close four routes from Dublin to Basel, Doncaster, Oporto and Teesside, and reduce frequencies on eight more routes from Dublin to Aberdeen, Biarritz, Billund, Bournemouth, Carcassonne, East Midlands, Malaga and Rome (Ciampino). These cuts will result in one additional based aircraft (five in total) being switched from high cost Dublin Airport to a low cost Ryanair European base in July.

Ryanair’s latest cuts at Dublin for summer 2009 will see:

A 22% cut in Dublin based aircraft (from 22 to 17).
A 20% cut in weekly rotations (from over 700 to under 600).
A 23% drop in Ryanair’s Dublin traffic (10.8m to 8.3m pax in 2009/10).
The loss of 50 Dublin based jobs (250 in total).
Further cuts in Ryanair’s Dublin winter schedule will be announced later.

Announcing these further Dublin cuts today, Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:

“This latest 12% increase in Government owned ATC charges at Dublin Airport is another nail in the coffin of Irish tourism. These increases have been rubber-stamped yet again by Ireland’s useless Aviation Regulator, Cathal Guiomard, proving again how useless he is and that he should be sacked. How can any regulator approve a 12% increase in ATC charges in a year when inflation will be negative? This is impossible to justify.

“These IAA increases show that this gutless Government has no interest in Irish tourism. Over the last three months traffic at Dublin Airport has declined by 12%, with 500,000 fewer passengers, and this collapse will get worse from April when the Government €10 travel tax and these IAA increases come in.

“These massive Government cost increases prove that this Government is devastating the tourism industry. Already this year the DAA has increased airport charges, increased wheelchair charges, is double charging for kiosk installation and now the Government and its clueless Regulator allows the IAA to raise ATC charges by 12%, when inflation is at 0%.

“At a time when Governments and airports all over Europe are reducing costs in order to stimulate tourism, the Irish Government is raising costs and introducing taxes which can only damage tourism. Ryanair calls again on the Irish Government to promote tourism by scrapping the travel tax and sacking Cathal Guiomard, the useless and incompetent Aviation Regulator”.

CANCELLED
Basel
Doncaster
Oporto
Teesside


REDUCTIONS
Aberdeen
Biarritz
Billund
Bournemouth
Carcassonne
East Midlands
Malaga
Rome (CIA)

Source; ryanair.com

Well theres another one down... That leaves just BHD as a city destination i think...

 

[Aviador]

That's very bad news for Doncaster and yet another nail in the coffin it appears. I seem to remember both DSA and DTV having a flying visit by Ryanair before Christmas promising both airport the world? "We're fully committed" were the words, correct me if I'm wrong?

 

[pug]

Ive noticed that in low-cost airline terminology 'committed' means were axing some poorly performing routes but please still use the remaining ones.

Only the BHD at a reasonably frequent service. This route is subsidised though so would BE want to start another to DUB? RE used SZD and that didnt seem to work for whatever reason.

Cant have been doing that well or it would have been saved the chop. Seem to remember BLK doing alot better and retaining daily until the ADF when RE took over, albeit only with 5xweekly flights.

 

[White Heather]

Another bleak day then for Peel, losing their flights to DUB at both DSA and DTV at the same time. VERY bad news for DUB too, with Ryanair really starting to reduce their operations there now.

 

[pug]

Im begining to wonder if its the Government helping to clear a space for their suffocated EI services?

I very much doubt that the routes would have been pulled though, had they been popular or making money. DSA again comes secondary to those it was supposed to overtake (LBA and EMA)

 

[Aviador]

Blow for tourism as more flights axed from airport

DONCASTER'S tourism industry has suffered a major blow after flights from Robin Hood Airport to Dublin were axed.

Airline Ryanair is to ditch flights from Finningley to the Irish capital in a move it blamed on air traffic control costs introduced by the Irish Government.

Robin Hood bosses have now said they intend to find another airline to operate the route which was used by around 60,000 people in the last year.

The announcement is the latest blow to the airport which has seen a number of city destinations including Amsterdam, Paris and Prague lost since it opened in 2005.

Neil Pakey, deputy chief executive of Peel Airports, which owns Robin Hood, said: "There is no hiding our disappointment at the Ryanair announcement and we know that there will be a similar reaction from the
many thousands of passengers who have supported the service."

Previous statistics have shown that the route brought Irish tourists to Doncaster with the borough's races a popular destination.

Coun Jonathan Wood, Doncaster Council's economy committee watchdog vice chairman, warned of the dangers of taxes pushing business out.

He added: "Any loss of service, particularly in this economic climate, is a big blow to Doncaster.

"I'm sure it will hurt tourism and the racing economy in the borough, and hurt us as a stopping off point to other places in Yorkshire and the UK.

"I would worry there may be a knock-on effect on hotels."

Ryanair said its Doncaster to Dublin route would stop in July. It added that services from Doncaster to Alicante and Girona in Spain were not affected.

The Irish company's Dublin to Teeside, Basle, and Porto routes would be axed and eight other routes will be reduced.

Ryanair said increased taxes and other price hikes had led to a 12 per cent drop in passenger numbers travelling to Dublin last month.

Michael Cawley, Ryanair's deputy chief executive, said: "This latest 12 per cent increase in government-controlled charges at Dublin Airport is another nail in the coffin of Irish tourism.

"These massive cost increases prove that the Irish government is devastating the tourism industry.

"Ryanair appreciates that it is not only the Irish economy that is affected by these horrendous increases in air traffic control charges, and we will continue to look at other route opportunities from Doncaster and Tees Valley where such draconian cost increases are not imposed upon us."

A spokesman for the department of transport in the Irish Republic said: "This decision by Ryanair is regrettable but the Government's departure tax is not why Ryanair decided to cut these services."

Source

 

[White Heather]

That last paragraph is in my opinion correct. I think that Ryanair are using the tax as an excuse to axe routes that are not proving as successful as they hoped. Whilst there may be no doubt that the airline has pulled aircraft out of DUB, resulting in a reduction in routes and flights, isn't it a little odd that 2 days after they announced the axe on DSA and DTV, they announced a new route between Munich (Messingen) and Dublin? Whilst the route is operated by a Munich based aircraft, it does nevertheless suggest that Ryanair are being slightly economic with the truth.

 

[Aviador]

Airport boss upbeat about the future in spite of lost flights

POSITIVE: Nick Smillie has high hopes for the future at Doncaster Airport.

ROBIN Hood Airport got off to a flying start with soaring passenger figures and exciting destination choices.

But just four years down the line the business is struggling to take off - with passenger numbers dwindling and news that yet another popular city destination has been pulled.

Kate Mason looks at what the future holds for the airport that dreamed of being the biggest in Yorkshire.

WHEN the former RAF Finningley base was transformed into an airport back in 2005 business was quickly booming with 250,000 passengers using the service in the first three months alone.

The initial success led bosses to predict that Robin Hood was on course to become Yorkshire's biggest airport by 2008.

But the fledgling airport has since experienced troubled times culminating in the latest announcement on St Patrick's Day that passengers could no longer travel to Dublin from Doncaster.

The news came as a devastating blow to airport bosses who have seen a number of city destinations lost including Amsterdam, Paris and Prague.

The airport said operator Thomson axed flights to Amsterdam, Paris and Prague following a change in its business plan to concentrate on its traditional core market of 'sun' destinations.

Despite around 60,000 people using the Dublin service in the last year Ryanair announced the flights will stop in July as a result of increased air traffic control costs at Dublin - something the airport say is beyond its control.

But airport bosses firmly believe the market is still there for flights to Dublin and claim the problem is not unique to Doncaster.

Nick Smillie, aviation sales director ,said: "Airports all over the country, in fact all over the world are experiencing problems in the current economic climate and quite often these problems are out of the hands of the airport and down to other factors, it's not a problem with demand.

"We are under constant pressure to ensure that we are working hard to keep the business we have already got and while Doncaster has fantastic potential for growth and expansion that has to be our number one priority at the moment."

It is feared the loss of the Dublin route could directly affect tourism with Coun Jonathan Wood, Doncaster Council's economy committee watchdog vice chairman describing the loss as a "big blow", indicating that the horse racing economy and hotels in the borough would suffer a knock-on effect.

Following the Dublin blow the only city destinations from the airport now are Belfast, Girona in Spain, Salzburg and the Polish cities of Gdansk, Katowice, Poznan and Warsaw.

Meanwhile nearby Leeds/Bradford has flights to more than 20 city destinations including Paris, Prague, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Geneva, Milan and Rome as well as several in the UK.

Wizz Air's regular flights to Poland - around three a day - have been one of the airport's successes with more than 300,000 people travelling between Doncaster and Eastern Europe.

Source

 

[Aviador]

£1million upgrade for airport

ROBIN Hood Airport has fitted new state-of-the-art equipment which will stop planes having to be diverted to other airports in bad weather.

The Finningley site has completed a near £1million investment to install a new system which will allow aircraft to land safely at the site even during poor weather conditions.

The equipment called CAT III Instrument Landing System (ILS) uses technology to guide planes into land during poor weather when the cockpit instrument displays can be affected.

The technology sends radio signals and high intensity lighting rays from the ground to the cockpits of approaching planes allowing pilots to stay on course.

It is designed to be used when visibility is reduced because of low cloud levels, fog, rain or snow.

The installation of the equipment means planes will not have to be diverted to other airports in poor weather.

It also means the former RAF base will be able to allow more planes to land that have been diverted from other airports because of poor weather.

Mike Morton, airport director for Robin Hood Airport said: "This is a huge investment in the airport and will mean that more flights will be able to land in adverse weather conditions.

"This upgrade continues our commitment to improving our airfield infrastructure and it also means that Doncaster airport will be able to host aircraft that have been diverted from other airports which don't have this equipment and are suffering from poor weather.

"Our aim is always to provide the best possible service for our customers and by investing in this top of the range equipment we will be increasing the number of flights that can land here whatever the weather and further improving on the reliability of our services."

An official switch-on ceremony for the new technology is expected to take place in about a month.

Source

 

[pug]

The airport is finaly listed on the routeshop, nothing like letting your competitors knowing your intentions.

Some misguiding selling tactics including a claim that DSA is 'the only viable long-haul airport east of the pennines'...

http://www.therouteshop.com/doncaster-s ... d-airport/

 

[Aviador]

Does that mean that East Midlands is out of the question then too despite having a runway exactly the same length as DSA with an application to extend it to 3000m

 

[pug]

Sorry this is the exact quote

DSA is Yorkshire and the Humber's ONLY viable long haul Airport serving the area to the East of the Pennines

Conveniantly leaving out EMA which, as ive said before, is only the same distance from Sheffield and much of the 1.8 million population in 'DSA's catchment'...

Surely they must know that airlines are aware of their options and will be aware of competitors airports?

 

[Aviador]

Presumably airlines do know this which is probably why DSA is struggling. I have to say, I found the site a good read as it's the official spin doctor at work without any media interference!

 

[pug]

You can certainly see where it all comes from. Wonder if parent company Peel Holdings have latched onto whats going on there? Losses must be far heavier than in 07?

 

[Aviador]

I dread to think what the airports losses stand at these days. Things are only going to get worse for them. The biggest mistake Peel ever made was taking on DSA. To use a phrase off the telly, does"Location, Location Location" sound familiar? I often think that Mr Peel must have used DSA to have a little flutter with his millions. "Will it work or wont it? Lets give it a bash and throw £80m at it!" It kind of reminds me of the film "Trading Places" where the two rich bankers make a bet with a 1 cent coin that Billy Ray Valentine (Eddy Murphy) couldn't make them millions but he did. It's only a shame that in Peels case they failed miserably.