DONCASTER SHEFFIELD

[davidjpowell]

Doncaster is in an awkward part of the country for routes I suspect.

I can get to most of the major conurbations (London, Leeds, Manchester, Bristol, Newcastle, Edinburgh & Glasgow) within 4 hours by car - some a lot less.

If I don't want to drive most of these can be done by train also

London, 1h 40m
Leeds, 40m
Manchester, 1hr 30m
Bristol, 3hr 30m
Newcastle, 1hr 30m
Edinburgh 2hr 45m
Glasgow 3hr 45m

Basically taking into account the hassle of flying, the time of check-in and the flight, + dealing with an airport on the edge of a city, the plane route fails. I think it's unlikely that we will see mainland UK routes at the airport.

Sadly when I do want to fly - typically to Ireland, the routes aren't there and I end up with a drive to East Midlands or Leeds.

It would be great if Doncaster could pick-up a route out to a hub though.

In the meantime I look forward to the new link road, living just 1 minute away from it's terminating point.

[egcntristar]

And how do you know new routes are almost with us? Can you back this up with anything?

I find it somewhat ironic that Timmy is asking for proof when nothing he has prophesied about has actually happened......

Forever blowing bubbles.

[davidjohnson6]

Aug CAA stats

62,849 pax in August 2013, up 6.9 % on August 2012

[bad bear]

or, down 7.8% year on year to 683727 passengers.

bb

[egcntristar]

Change to this winters Thomson programme at the airport, a second weekly Lanzarote flight will be replacing one of the flights to Sharm.

On a sad note a big contributor to the forums who was a big part of Finningley has left us, RIP Sir Derek, top man.

[onyxcrowle]

Originally Posted by egcntristar:8061060

Change to this winters Thomson programme at the airport, a second weekly Lanzarote flight will be replacing one of the flights to Sharm.

On a sad note a big contributor to the forums who was a big part of Finningley has left us, RIP Sir Derek, top man.

Rip Sir Derek

[LBIA]

So work is actually starting today on the new £56 million dual carriageway link road from the M18 to Rossington, with work expected to be completed by 2016. Its just a shame it wont be going all the way to the Airport.

BBC News - Robin Hood Airport to M18 link road starts

I wonder if any airlines will be tempted to start new routes from DSA once its completed in 2016?

[wb9999]

So work is actually starting today on the new £56 million dual carriageway link road from the M18 to Rossington, with work expected to be completed by 2016. Its just a shame it wont be going all the way to the Airport.

The new road will join existing roads 2.5 miles from the airport, and those 2.5 miles are not a problem - there is rarely congestion and a quarter of that section is already dual carriageway on the airport entry road.

The journey time from the end of the new road to the airport will be about 4 minutes - hardly an issue.

The new road will mean passengers avoid urban areas of Doncaster which get heavily congested at rush hour. The journey time will be cut by at least 20 minutes, with a bigger saving during rush hour.

[onyxcrowle]

Local news also reported the inland port will start work soon.
With that on the doorstep as well it might tempt more freight

[LAX_LHR]

I wonder if any airlines will be tempted to start new routes from DSA once
its completed in 2016?

Id very much doubt it. Still the same airport in the same spot. In the grand scheme of things very little will have changed.

This 5 minute time saving is hardly going to swing the opinions and preferences of the masses, and without the masses the airlines will be reluctant to come.

[Teevee]

Its a bit more than 'five' minutes, and it will give the assurance of not getting involved in long unplanned for delays in the traffic heading into Doncaster. It probably would affect the thinking of people in the north Derbyshire/Sheffield area. That said it will take three years and who knows what the situation will be then?probably freight is the best short term bet, with any new pax route growth being a trickle.New routes aren't suddenly going to explode!

[blackbeard1]

As a frequent flyer from the Sheffield area my problem with DSA is not the time it takes to get to the airport but the lack of flights to where I want to go to and the overall airport experiance. Saving a few minutes journey time getting to an airport with no flights will not make any difference to me.

[LAX_LHR]

Its a bit more than 'five' minutes, and it will give the assurance of not
getting involved in long unplanned for delays in the traffic heading into
Doncaster.

Will it now?

Lets look at it properly shall we. The new link road will not alter the journey time from Sheffield to J3 of the M18, so lets not include any time savings there.

Now, I have been to DSA many times, and it has never taken me more than 15 minutes from J3 to DSA via Lakeside. Next, the new road will probably take 5-7 minutes from J3 to the DSA doors, can you therefore explain where this huge time saving will come from, as without the aid of a teleportation device or time machine, I just don't see it. As for these 'large traffic jams', Ive rarely seen them in all the times Ive visited family in the Doncaster area, and Doncaster is hardly a bustling metropolis like the centre of London, Birmingham or Manchester.

And lets not forget the road isn't actually for the benefit of the airport, its for the regeneration of Rossington and Finningly, as the name suggests......

[wb9999]

LAX_LHR, firstly it takes 20 minutes from J3 to DSA at quiet times, going the speed limit - I do the journey several times per week.
Secondly, try doing the journey at rush hour (after 4pm going to DSA or before 9.30am coming from DSA), and it will easily take 30-40 due to the traffic on Bawtry Road through Bessacarr.

When the new road is built, the journey it will about 8 minutes from J3 to DSA.

[LAX_LHR]

LAX_LHR, firstly it takes 20 minutes from J3 to DSA at quiet times, going the
speed limit - I do the journey several times per week.

Well I do not know where you are going wrong then. I also go the speed limit (with traffic lights and roundabouts not many places you could break it easily tbh), and one journey was timed at 14 minutes from turn off at J3 to the very last roundabout outside DSA.

When the new road is built, the journey it will about 8 minutes from J3 to
DSA

OK then, lets use your 20 minutes as a time bar, just for ease of argument and the sake of 6 minutes.
The journey time saving of 12 minutes from Sheffield. Im not aiming this at you personally, but, who are these masses of people that are suddenly going to say 'oh, DSA is 12 minutes closer? Why didn't you say? That makes all the difference!

12 minutes in the grand scheme of destination choice, check in time (2-3 hours before departure for some), price, airline choice etc.

Im just intrigued at where this link road is going to be the 'making' of DSA?

Still a small country lane to traverse for large lorries. Still the same number of buses to DSA. Still no coach links. Still no rail station.

I appreciate Rome wasn't built in a day, but I feel just a little too much hope has been placed on this link road, which, let me re-iterate again, isn't primarily for the benefit of DSA.

[ryansf]

I'd just like to back up the above posters with regards to journey times, having lived in Doncaster most of my life and Bessacarr for the past five years, you can really trust me when I say that traffic is hellish during rush hour down Bawtry Road and around the Dome/Lakeside areas. It would easily take 40 minutes to do the journey. Having said that, for purposes of balance, Parrots Corner is quite a bottleneck so we'll have to see if adding an extra road into an already busy junction will help with the Bawtry Road traffic problems.

Still a small country lane to traverse for large lorries.

You obviously haven't been into the countryside much if you think Hurst Lane is a "small country lane"! Now it's not the M25 but it's certainly no narrower than the roads leading to LBA and EMA.

[LGS6753]

What this debate about journey times misses is the proximity of parking at DSA to the terminal. That must be worth twenty minutes of anyone's time compared to (say) EMA.

[Teevee]

LAX_LHR yes, let's look at properly shall we? ryansf has lived in Doncaster for years, and right now I'm living in Rotherham, having previously lived in Rossington and am working at Hayfield School, just a bit further up Hurst Lane than the DSA turn-off. I think your admission that you've never the 'large traffic jams' says it all, as does your admission that you have often travelled that route visiting family and friends ... one normally picks ones time to do that and it isn't 'peak' time. On Sundays you might be able to do it in 15 minutes with every light at green but on weekdays I have to make damn sure I'm coming off the M18 by 7.35 if I want to be sure of getting to school by 8.00. And there's the rub. It isn't just the time, it is the uncertainty of present routes that is a pain. Everything from normal work traffic, to Doncaster Rovers traffic to Bank Holiday B&Q, to busy times at ASDA to the Hall Cross kids stopping traffic every 20 seconds at the pedestrian crossing to get to school at Cantley Bridge can affect it. Time is only ever an issue at any airport if you hit unexpected delays and as far as getting to DSA for a fllight goes, depending on the time it can be a concern. This route at least removes those concerns. And if you'll read my original post properly, I never said anything like this road will be magic provider of pax for DSA, though it certainly isn't going to do the place any harm. Never mind just Finningley and Rossington, it'll work wonders for the whole of Doncaster.

[LAX_LHR]

one normally picks ones time to do that and it isn't 'peak' time

Oh yes, all those flights from DSA are right smack bang in the middle of rush hour, aren't they. Apart from the wizzair's and non-based charters, most flights are off based units.
Morning flights from base (Thomson etc) usually leave around 6-8am, check in time from 4am is. Rush hour of 40 minutes at 4am? If you say so.....

2nd wave usually from 1pm-3pm-ish. Again, check in from 11am and not in rush hour again. So, lets all use this 'bad traffic' excuse again shall we, all that bad traffic in Doncaster's rush hours of 4am and 11am

[wb9999]

I've been to DSA today, and at 1pm it took 20 minutes from Lakeside. The traffic didn't go any faster than 30mph all the way down Bawtry Road, despite a speed limit that varies between 40-60 - and in my weekly experience that's pretty good timing. This was around check-in time for a Thomson flight, as there was a large queue at checkin when I arrived at DSA.