I tend to agree in that the regional catchment is and always was more than enough covered by EMA, LBA and HUY - the latter particularly would probably be in a better position from a passenger point of view today if DSA had never come about - but what would be the economic impact if it now essentially ceased to exist as a passenger operation? Locally at least it would be catastrophic.

It's shows how inept and uninformed you are, read the ACC minutes for details.

Link please.

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/...umber-24140321

Surely someone as well informed about DSA on social media as you, doesn’t need a link?

Remind us what an ACC is again…

Meanwhile here’s the stuff Timmy never mentions.

Not sure about the Catchment argument at any regional airport, availability, convenience and price matter most to the majority. How many people from Yorkshire are using LHR to get to the States at the moment? It’s not convenient but it’s available. Wizz have timetabled availability, convenience and price but have not delivered. Who would book with them unless they were either ignorant of their performance on the DSA sun routes or be prepared for a gamble 50/50 that they’ll actually go? If DSA’s commercial obligations in return for exclusivity are to not allow competitors on the same routes, then good luck to them in attracting another carrier for the sun routes - one hopefully that can offer regular availability, convenience and price, and put DSA on the map for the immediate Catchment area and maybe a little further afield.
I live in Doncaster and I’m flying from NCL for my next holiday 😃

18 cargo flights a month (the current amount) is hardly enough to be excited about.

I asked a serious question, how can DSA possible grow (other than maybe another based TUI) in terms of passenger flights now?

Looking at the article in the Donny Free Press, you get the impression it's the UK to the sun flights that are cancelled, not Wizz's core market to Eastern Europe. Perhaps going head to head with Jet2s core business was not great, especially as the Jet2 holiday product is highly regarded. It also says that the cancelling of the DSA flights will give it more resilience at other bases, this may well be the prime reason. Of course it's always easier to blame someone else, they must have a copy of the O'Leary playbook!

Wizz must use the same spin doctors as Ryanair by blaming the airports for their own failings.

I said the constant cancellations would end in tears and was shot down. Fact is, some of the sun routes were departing a quarter full. Whoever falt that is, it isn't sustainable

Unfortunately I don't see anyone coming in, even in the long term to pick up these routes.

All the eggs are in TUIs basket. And if they ever get itchy feet, then it's game over for the passenger side
​​
In three years, I'll confidently say there won't be another based carrier at DSA

The fact is we don't know what has gone on beyond closed doors and won't know.

Perhaps Wizz demanded better service than Tui. Never going to happen.
Perhaps Wizz has just decided that they can better deploy the staff.

We only have a Wizz air press release which may or may not be partly true, not true or completely true.

Tui appears to be happy and doing well. While it's difficult to see where the next operator will come in, that's always the case until they arrive.

This market is very fluid and hard to predict

Not that I'll miss Wizz. I thought they were expensive if you needed to take anything with you, and am not a fan of their customer retention process.

This will just have been financial data driven… bolster the other UK ops by trimming least profitable or lowest forward bookings. I don’t think theres any more to it than that.

TimmyW You really seem to get off on the idea of an airport running into trouble. How sad you are!

It is called being realistic. I called this months ago.
.

This is also a way and excuse for Wizzair to transfer crews to other places in times of shortages. For example, their Gatwick schedules are a shambles at the moment.
Their is obviously a market from Doncaster for sun routes as TUI has 4 aircraft based this summer. I think the doomsayers need to check facts.

For package holidays.

Scheduled services have never worked at DSA in 17 years of trying

So what have Wizz been operating for years?

Half a dozen Eastern European routes.

I guess it worked out well for Ryanair, easyJet, flybe etc?

Wizz were the last throw of the dice.

Even through TimmyW views at times are not very promising about DSA. The fact is he’s correct with his foresight about Wizzair and I have to agree with some of his other comments made in the past.
All members have an opportunity to voice one’s opinion.
Apparently Wizz only told Doncaster based staff yesterday of there plans,the reason stated “airport soon to close”(Source from Twitter).

Not good time to be in travel sector at the moment
Hopefully DSA will pull through this bitter blow.

So apart from the TUI base, the long standing Wizz routes to Eastern Europe, regular widebody freight flights and miscellanious operators such as NPAS and 2Excel, the airport is doomed?

The now current Wizz offering to eastern Europe isnt as expansive as it was five years ago.

TUI will have a limit to their offering. Realistically will it ever grow larger than it is today? I'd wager no, but I could be wrong

Other than that, there's no one left in terms of passenger offering, no one will touch the place

18 cargo flights operated last month according to the stats. Plus the general aviation.

What really gets me is that Peel borrowed the money for the terminal extension from the local authorities as it was needed to get the Wizz base. What a waste that has been.


​​​​​​Has been mentioned elsewhere but don't forget the DSA MD quit out of the blue a couple of weeks ago. I'm guessing everything is linked.

Radio Sheffieldjust ran a piece on the situation this afternoon.

DSA said they won't be commenting any further on the situation - and all they have said is that they weren't aware of Wizz pulling out until it was in the media.

Sad act
 

What a sad life Timmy must have. People have had to read your constant negative dribble for years now and it really is tiresome, what is your agenda?? Bizarre.
This announcement from Wizz is going to cost people their jobs and the first thing you think is go on to an Internet forum to gloat and say I told you so. What a low life.

I expect this is down to WizzUK focussing on Gatwick and having serious issues in recruitment. They’ll be back IMO. They can’t afford to allow Gatwick to fail and know they can come
back to DSA when it suits them, no doubt it’s why the airport are keeping quiet.

Flybe didn’t fail at DSA, the numbers were always good.
The airport is a different animal to what it was when EasyJet were here many years ago.

Timmy. your valued and informative comments over the years have been very much appreciated. Your local knowledge and understanding helps enormously.
All of us including airports and airlines have to live in the real world and that may mean cutting back services. If WizzAir is not getting the passenger numbers it needs
there need to be changes------ it happens all the time.

Flybe were at DSA only because the airport was paying them to be there. Several routes including CDG were a total disaster area with yields never off the floor.

Is doing it with a week's notice for the passengers, the airport and their own employees (...) in the middle of the summer season the way it's supposed to be done when it's data driven? It's not a prudent business action, it's panic driven to avoid a total breakdown (whether in Doncaster or in Gatwick/Luton). And they are still short sighted enough to think that the crew will follow them to LGW/LTN after being treated like that.

There's a rumour on Facebook the airport already have someone lined up to replace some of the lost Wizz fligjts.

We will wait and see

I agree flights to Malaga and Larnaca are cancelled today, but are you sure G-WUKC has been flown out of DSA ?

FR24 shows ‘KC on the ground at Doncaster as at 17:30 today (5/6/22)..

Has been for the last 15 hours…….

This tweet says flights are only suspended but refers to all flights....
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....40e84a3b00.jpg

I did see some social media posts that the crew found out about the base closure when some passengers got on for their flight.

At that point, the crew asked them to deboard and that flight ended up being canceled. I wonder if enough crew has walked that they cannot run a flight. Given that they will be security cleared, one would imagine that in the current climate they are in a good position to pick up a new post, without commuting down south.

this mornings Ibiza flight flew so presumably they’ve sorted whatever grounded the plane yesterday.

I think that the only WizzUK flight this morning was to Alicante. Scheduled Dep. time 05.35, Actual Dep. time 06.39. It was a full flight & will be a full return. Its their last ALC flight from DSA.
Ibiza flight was TUI.

https://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk...les-on-3720838

Wizz insisting the airport were given prior notice to them closing the base. Given the DSA Airport MD quit suddenly a week or two ago, i'm inclined to believe Wizz on this ocassion.

You would have thought DSA would have made some kind of statement, however if the blame is in their corner, there isn't much for them to say.

Wizz have repeated the following comment, which is all we got to go on. I'd would be surprised if it hasn't been cleared by lawyers, so what exactly does it mean?

They told the airport three weeks ago but not their own employees and their own passengers? Or they told everyone on Saturday with a week's notice? I don't know which is worse. Then why did they cancel 3 out of 5 flights (even a WAH one) yesterday? Because of the commercial agreement with the airport or because they are in shambles? If the problem is "staff shortages within air traffic control and at airports" as they claim in their statement then how on earth closing a base will "stabilize their operations". It will have zero effect on staffing of ATC/airports anywhere. The only way they can stabilize their operations with closures is to move their own crew elsewhere to plaster the wholes caused by crew shortage. That's the thruth, any way they slice it.

So if the airport is unable to guarantee the terms of its commercial agreement with Wizz why are these flights still running apart from not wanting to upset its Eastern European passengers?

Does DSA grant different terms/conditions to a UK airline (Wizz UK) with G-reg aircraft based at DSA, compared to a non-UK airline (Wizz Hungary) with non-UK registered that aircraft not based at DSA ? What is the scope of the commercial terms that are being varied ? There's plenty of opportunity for someone to find legal niceties to justify whatever they want

Legally speaking there are two different airlines involved, but I suspect it is the based operation that is affected and DSA are not saying much so as to not impact the East European operation.

At a guess, Wizz UK would get further concessions such as reduced rates if it reached certain numbers, hasn't delivered and the arguement is around any exclusions/force majuere etc?