Norman Normal, regional airports compete with each other (why would Leeds Bradford and Humberside object to DSA opening?), to attract airlines and create bases, and a re-opened SZD would definitely be competing with DSA, so why would Peel sell unless they were forced to?
The number of inter-UK flights between regional airports on small turboprops is a small percentage of total flights. The majority of flights from regional airports are to Europe, on jets or large turboprops. DSA is well suited for this, when the economy picks up. SZD is not and never will be. The two UK routes you mention are Eastern Airways flights, who are unlikely to use a re-opened SZD as they own Humberside (a competitor!) and they already operate from Leeds and East Midlands. High prices (which are typical on STOL aircraft) does not equal high margin. It's more likely due to high costs.
It's unlikely any airline would use SZD, as it is too short and doesn't have radar. There are currently no commercial flights from any similar sized runway in the UK, and, other than a few rare exceptions in the Scottish Highlands, none into a non-radar airport. Since SZD originally opened, airlines want bigger runways for bigger planes and radar. BA got rid of all of their turboprops, and KLMuk's smallest aircraft is larger than the one that flew into SZD.
I don't think DSA is catering for a niche market. Currently, yes (because of the economy). But potentially, no. It's in a similar position to places like Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds, East Midlands were 15 years ago. Back then the only time you would visit one of those airports was for a charter flight on a package deal to the sun - just like DSA now.
The Ciudad Real airport fiasco is very different to DSA. It cost £1 billion pounds to open (15 times the cost at DSA), was alleged to have been planned to fail from the beginning and there was corruption - investors, banks and the regional Government were conned into putting money in and it all, allegedly, went to the developer and his construction company.
There is some misinformation and propaganda coming from the FSB (I support their campaign, but I wish they would stick to facts).
The FSB write in their myths document:
“Sheffield has a 1211 metre runway. There are many regional airliners operating out of cities all over the world that are designed specifically to land and take off on 1200 metre runways. London City Airport handles about 3m passengers per year, all of them flying in and out on regional airliners“.
LCY’s runway is 1508 metres – 25% longer than SZD. That is a massive difference, as most of the aircraft that flies in to LCY would not fit into SZD.
The list of airlines that the FSB say could use SZD is incorrect. BACityFlyer, Air France Régional and Lufthansa regional do not have aircraft capable of using SZD at maximum weight. KLMuk have 3 aircraft that could just about fit into SZD - the ATR 72 (requires 1200 metres, no room for error!). But if they are already allocated to other routes then KLM is out of the question for SZD. An airport that relies on one or two airlines (even with 100% loads) is not going to be profitable - ask Humberside!
Toronto City Airport does have a 1200m runway with 1.5 million passengers. But they have a large operator (Porter Airlines) based there with a fleet of 26 aircraft designed for short runway operations. If SZD was to re-open there will never be a scenario where a major airline uses SZD as their main hub. Before Porter moved into Toronto City in 2006 the airport was losing $1 million a year.
Toronto City’s runway length is 180 metres shorter than the Porter's fleet manufacturer’s specifications, so the airline have to leave 8 seats empty on every flight. Hardly an ideal situation in the UK, where fuel costs, passenger taxes and airport fees are much higher than in North America.
Metro Toronto has a population of 5.5 million, and it's the financial capital in Canada. To get anywhere in Canada you have to fly, unlike the UK. So the figure of 1.5 million doesn't look quite as impressive. Sheffield's population is just over a tenth of metro Toronto, which would equate to about 150,000 passengers annually (before we start narrowing that down and thinking about niches that SZD would be targeting) - which is not enough to make an airport viable.
It is extreme for the FSB to compare the potential of Sheffield City airport with London City and Toronto City. It's like comparing Humberside with Heathrow.
Like I said before, I would love SZD to open. I've flown from it when it was open. But my head says it will never happen, unless some rich guy wants to lose millions on a hobby.
Last edited by wb9999; 8th Feb 2013 at 13:42.