I'm curious. How?

By car. About 40 mins. Whereas the same journey took an hour on the bus last time I tried from LBA.

Comparing a Car to Bus? hahahaha ok legit.

That's good. How long does it take on public transport from Finningley? And how long in a car from LBA?

Don’t forget the vital hovercraft from LBA vs zeppelin from Finningley comparison!

DSA in 40mins from the centre of Leeds - impossible legally. A quick check (at midnight) and Google maps is giving a travel time of 54 mins! Try that journey during the day and it’s a nightmare, firstly having to manage the M62 and then the snarled up 2 lane A1 and Doncaster bypass. I travel from Leeds to Donny regularly and that journey can often be up to 2hrs!

Latest rumour is Head Lease is agreed, and can be signed once the two mayors stop bickering about who is going to announce it. Progress.

Wasn't that always going to happen, given that it’s costing Peel a rumoured £200,000+ per year just sitting empty?

Let’s see who they can get in to run it first, far too much politicking going on at the moment to get a clear picture. York Aviation have issued caution I see..

Lease agreement between Doncaster and Peel has been signed, term of 125 years. No operator appointed as yet.

Not strictly DSA related, but with some comments in the past stating marketing of services being poor, this latest move by Sheffield City Council isn’t exactly going to help matters is it:

https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/polit...-fuels-4561300

No option then to have a FlyDSA arena again in future I assume. Something that Peel did do to increase profile.

Is Bill Board advertising and Arena sponsorship that effective in current markets?

When actual passenger numbers will be determined by who bases and the availability of reliable flights /holiday packages to varied destinations, isn't it those company's advertising efforts on the web, social media, TV and Radio that will generate the numbers.

Who bases will be determined by the operator, and I have my own hopes it will be V one that can bring along Easy, Wizz, Vueling & TUI to take a good part of the cross Pennines leakage of pax to MAN

I've just read the BBC article and I can't see any clear reference to returning the site to a fully functioning commercial airport.

I see a 125 year lease has been signed for 'the site' which to my mind suggests it could just as easily be used for warehousing and distribution while retaining the airfield for non commercial general aviation.

Obviously a lot depends on who is appointed as the operator but they are surely going to need deep pockets and be prepared to lose money for several years, assuming that paying operators can be convinced to offer services.

The reality is that away from SE England the UK need fewer rather than more airports.

It’s not necessarily the function of advertising, more a statement of intent by SCC of their support for the airport/airline industry or lack of that is concerning. Do not forget that the FOBC will need to be reviewed and approved before SYMCA can approach the Government to release the funding. The operator will have to have a pretty solid business case considering the questions have started to be asked about how it can be a justifiable public sector investment given its history of heavy losses.

Current consensus would say that the preferred bidder is not Vinci. I’d be surprised if anyone outside of the NDA really knows all that much short of some industry speculation.

ATNotts, Ros Jones of Doncaster Council has stated that passenger services are a priority and it has been the focus of their tender. Not clear at the moment how the organisational structure will look, as there are conflicting statements from the Council. Will it be Council owned and merely run by an appointed operator, or will the operator be responsible for all ongoing investment after all initial public subsidies end?

Lots of questions still to be answered, and I think the lease was the easy bit.

Which brings us back to the old question, who?

Statement from 2Excel reads that they are looking to return, even to an unlicensed airfield. I can't remember the in's and out's of what and how, but could they operate the 727's in that way, does the size or type of aircraft even matter? They used to be regular scud runners over where I live, so flying outside of controlled airspace wasn't an issue.

Presumably for their type of operation there would be no issue, what do Lasham do when the big stuff arrives and departs for maintenance?

They operate air ground as an unlicensed aerodrome.

Sorry, meant in terms of fire cover with ref the 727. Not sure on the regs for operating them outside of CAT.

That will be a discussion between them and their insurers. The 727’s and coastguard assets should be under an SPO category not CAT.

RFFS cover isn’t required at an unlicensed aerodrome, however local fire services would normally be provided with data regarding the aerodromes typical operations.

Only the aircraft have left, the rest of the services are still there.

How much equipment will need replacing? ILS? Approach lights?