Doncaster Sheffield Airport Could Permanently Close

[Guest busdriver1]

9 hours ago, Chekhov said:

Leeds Bradford is not within easy reach. We've flown from there a few time and it's a pig to get to. Even worse in peak time.

OK maybe not but you are still left with 2 decent sized airports within easy reach and offering a vastly better range of flight options than Doncaster aerodrome, and for ME East midlands is easier to get to than Doncaster.

7 hours ago, LovePotion said:

There are also Ranger tickets that can help you save and also offer flexible travel for most* of the day. A Derbyshire Wayfarer ticket costs around £15 per person and could be used from Sheffield to Long Eaton and then you could buy a ticket from Long Eaton to East Midlands Parkway (only one short stop, be around £3). There is also a Group variant for around £25 which allows two adults to travel most of the day.

Do people really travel to airports by Bus / Train? I would not even think about it.

[HeHasRisen]

6 hours ago, LovePotion said:

Yes, I have done many times. You can't have your first holiday drinks if you have to drive.

Eh? What about at the airport once the car is parked?

[dutch]

39 minutes ago, HeHasRisen said:

Eh? What about at the airport once the car is parked?

Yeah right park your car and grab the bottle.

[Guest busdriver1]

1 hour ago, LovePotion said:

Can't have a drink on the last day of the holiday then if you have to drive home

So to you, a holiday is a period of permanent intoxication and little else? 

[Chekhov]

9 hours ago, busdriver1 said:

Do people really travel to airports by Bus / Train? I would not even think about it.

We have done so more than once, it can work quite well particularly if going away for weeks and the parking gets more expensive. The example I gave of flying for two and half weeks form Gatwick is a good one, I really wouldn't want to have got off an long haul overnight flight and had to drive from Gatwick (south of London.....) back to Sheff, so going by train would have worked very well there but the service has to be reliable, frequent, cheap and flexible. And the train rarely is.

Edited July 15, 2022 by Chekhov

[AndrewC]

11 hours ago, busdriver1 said:

OK maybe not but you are still left with 2 decent sized airports within easy reach and offering a vastly better range of flight options than Doncaster aerodrome, and for ME East midlands is easier to get to than Doncaster.

Do people really travel to airports by Bus / Train? I would not even think about it.

Car is still the primary choice of transport to airports in the UK (and even mainland Europe possibly) but a lot of airports even here have fairly good rail links. I'm not sure why you sound surprised and/or dismissive of the idea? Saves on having to drive & park - and paying for it. Airports like Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham etc are well 'plugged-in' to their local metro/rail networks. Of course, probably all depends on exactly where your home is in relation to the rail/metro network but it's very reasonable and popular option for many people.

 

Most places I've been to on the continent have pretty good trains/public transport from their airports too, and if I'm on a city break, again, I'm not sure why I'd want to lumber myself with a car? Maybe makes more sense for a more rural getaway, or maybe tourist islands where public transport isn't so great and you might do more day-tripping.

 

Worst large European city I've visited for airport links is maybe Budapest; I recall a pretty long, desolate walk across a motorway by rickety footbridge to an open-air station that time had forgotten. And trains don't move very fast in Hungary either. Another time I was heading to Serbia, so went from airport to Budapest train station by taxi as it was pre-arranged and there were a few of us. But both those visits were 12-15 years ago so it may have improved.

 

Best? Probably Copenhagen - train & metro stations a stone-throw from arrivals gate and metro takes about 10-15 mins to the centre.

[Guest]

Seems a shame really. I would love a reason to use this airport rather than having to go to Manchester all the time. 

 

https://sheffnews.com/news/doncaster-sheffield-airport-joint-statement-from-south-yorkshire-leaders

 

 

Edited July 18, 2022 by Guest

[ECCOnoob]

On 13/07/2022 at 13:49, Findlay said:

If Doncaster had a high speed rail link that joined the airport to the city and surrounding rail links to seaports and other cities then it would be viable. As a transport hub its not there yet so moth-balling it until the infrastructure is there would be an option.

That is one aspect I agree. But like all these small regional airports, which are often nothing more than a glorified bus station, they need regular scheduled flights with regular flowing passengers to make real money.

 

Airports are vastly expensive things to run and  cant survive by passengers travelling on a package charter flight once a year to Spain.

 

For all the locality and convenience, I have only ever flown from Doncaster Airport once in the entire time it's been open.  That was one holiday on a package directly throughthe operator who was dominating all of the flight slots at the airport at the time i.e. Thomson.

 

Since then, out of the dozens of holidays and business trips I have made - I have always had to go elsewhere to a "proper airport" in order to get transatlantic or directly into European cities on a convenient scheduled basis without the fuss of restrictions such as only going out on Sundays and only being  able to go back on Thursdays etc.

 

It was already losing stiff competition with the cheaper Airlines well served elsewhere in the locality and covid has just about finished it off.

 

Given the now shifting attitudes towards air travel generally, its not wholly surprising.  In fact, there is a probability that some of the other small all charter dominated airports could go the same way.

 

Whilst I accept a lot of the arguments regarding levelling up and Investment in the northern regions, the fact is we are still a small country. We have little to non domestic flight market when you compare us to places like America or Australia or Canada, we have a (albeit not perfect), good railway system and there is very little in the uk, even the extremities which can't be reached within say 12-14 hours with a vast majority of travel being significantly less than at merely a couple of hours. For comparative, I have relative living out in the industrial parts of Alberta, Canada whose nearest city of any substance is over 8 hours drive away.  I have a client who is based in Idaho whose town's passenger train service to the next big city is just 3 times a week.

 

We are lucky to have some parts of Europe which can be reached by train in equal or less time than it takes to go to an airport, check in, wait around,  fly,  check out and get into the city centre.  

 

If high speed rail gets going properly, it really will be the death knell to the majority of small airports.

Edited July 18, 2022 by ECCOnoob

[crookesey]

At times such as these it is far easier to apportion blame eg, Ukrainian war, fear of flying out and getting ‘stuck’, not having the security of a proven track record, or just make it up and chuck it into the Doncaster Sheffield Airport failure portfolio.

[Anna B]

The fact is, that compared to London and the South East, the North of England is poor. Profoundly so in some areas.

Therefore without help, and investment it is going to continue to go down hill, until it reaches third world status. If Northerners don't have money to spend nothing is going to thrive. What is the point of outsiders investing?  What do we produce these days?  We are now a 'service' economy. The only thing we're not short of is cheap labour.

 

A  quick trip to Hoyland, South Barnsley, will give you a glimpse of the future; Massive warehouses and distribution centres as far as the eye can see. Low paid workers and insecure employment. Is this supposed to be levelling up? 

 

I'm reminded of the 'Hunger Games' - the elite living in luxury in the capital, and everyone else scraping a living in the provinces. We very much need a Northern Assembly/ government fighting our corner for a decent slice of the cake rather than the crumbs...