Originally Posted by
G-FORZ
For the CPO to be successful there needs to be a watertight case of need to support ongoing infrastructure development that will be in the wider public interests of the local populations of South Yorkshire, Humberside, Lincolnshire and North Notts, and bring current and future transportation plans to fruition. Despite the fact there seems to be little optimism in the latest posts, if the argument is followed through there does appear to be a case for those who support the airport as an alternative to MAN and LBA. The CPO is for the Airport land not the previous business, there is suggestion that other operators may do better than Peel in making the airport a success. I wish the Doncaster/SYMCA every success in seeing through and winning the CPO and finding the right Airport operator to make things work.
Wasnt that the argument all along? An alternative to MAN and LBA? The previous business was an airport, regardless of who operated it. I understand the suspicion of Peel, but they did not build it to close it. Independent specialists who are not involved in the consultations have already been quite vocal in the fundamental issues the airport has/had to contend with, that does not go away by being purchased by the council, if anything this will exacerbate the issue.
It’s clear that what the airport needed to be successful was significant subsidy to attract volume traffic. When KLM refused to move (despite plaudits on here and elsewhere predicting they would many years ago) it was quite telling. When easyjet didn’t commit to a base there despite trying, there was another nail in the coffin. When Wizzair U.K. had to reduce their based commitment (thus incurring extra charges by not satisfying the terms of their contract), the writing was on the wall. It’s an airport built for volume that simply does not exist and it’s unlikely that it ever will. Just look at the passenger figures for the flights that were attempted and subsequently lost, are you going to blame that on Peel? If you are then it highlights a fundamental lack of understanding of how airline marketing works.
What the CPO aims to do is to take the land at market value, the Council deem this as an airport. The face value of a piece of land that used to be an airport that has failed is nothing, development as something else could be quite significant. Do you really think Peel and their legal team will take that lying down?
There is no significant business case for an airport at Finningley. It’s been put to market and failed to deliver.