One of the UK’s youngest airports, Doncaster Sheffield, is to close permanently by the end of the year – despite a promise by Liz Truss to “protect this airport and this infrastructure”.
The owner, Peel Group, said: “No tangible proposals have been received regarding the ownership of the airport or which address the fundamental lack of financial viability.”
The local authority says the closure could cost more than 800 jobs.
Since it opened in 2005, the South Yorkshire airport has failed to make a profit.
In June 2022, the budget airline Wizz Air abruptly closed its base at Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA).
Since warning about concerns for the future of the airport in July, the firm has been conducting a strategic review.
It concluded: “A break-even business plan cannot be identified for the foreseeable future.”
Peel Group 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 company says it has been “actively engaging” with local authorities and the Department for Transport as well as the airlines.
“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.”
The new prime minister vowed during her first prime minister’s questions to save Doncaster Sheffield airport as part of the levelling-up campaign.
Liz Truss said she had asked the new transport secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, “to make sure we do protect this airport and we protect that vital infrastructure and connectivity that helps our economy grow”.
On Friday, the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) made a last-ditch bid to keep the airport open, offering to compensate Peel Group for losses for a further year while a new owner was sought.
But Steven Underwood, chief executive of Peel Group said: “We will not accept any public sector grant to cover the costs of an airport that is not viable due to its lack of adequate forward revenues and high operating costs.
“Accepting funds from SYMCA may postpone the inevitable for another 13 months, but it will divert funds away from services on which communities throughout South Yorkshire rely.”
The decision to close permanently is blamed on “the high fixed costs associated with running a safe, regulated airport, together…
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