Sheffield airport (EGSY) to close?

[we_never_change]

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=149295

Various 'rumours' around about Sheffield closing. Didn't fare to well with commercial ops but a number of GA based there now & a flying school. Does the future look bright for this newish airfield?

WNC

[Sir George Cayley]

I don't think things are quite as bad as you think.

Half the airport is in the Green Belt, half isn't.

The plan, as I understand it, is to chop the runway in half and develop the section not covered by green belt.

So long as you can operate from 600m approx nothing will change
If you require longer then it would seem to be a problem.

Time to get an 'chopper maybe?

Sir George Cayley

[100LL]

Just a quid for skid row airport.

Read the full story Here (http://www.sheffieldtoday.net/viewarticle2.aspx?ArticleID=874857&SectionID=58&Search=sheffield%20%20airport&Searchtype=any&SearchSection=58&DateFrom=011995&DateTo=102004&Page=1&ReturnPage=Results.aspx) in the Sheffield Star


"Deal struck before council got involved"

clicky (http://www.sheffieldtoday.net/viewarticle2.aspx?ArticleID=874860&SectionID=58&Search=sheffield%20%20airport&Searchtype=any&SearchSection=58&DateFrom=011995&DateTo=102004&Page=1&ReturnPage=Results.aspx)

Business boss in rescue plan

Click Click (http://www.sheffieldtoday.net/viewarticle2.aspx?ArticleID=874863&SectionID=58&Search=sheffield%20%20airport&Searchtype=any&SearchSection=58&DateFrom=011995&DateTo=102004&Page=1&ReturnPage=Results.aspx)

[niknak]

It will be a shame if it does close, but with only G/A op's to support it, someone has to pay the daily operating costs of keeping it open, and why should that be anyone except the people who fly in and out of there?

The lack of support for the many scheduled services that have tried and failed at considerable cost to the local, national and EU taxpayer is proof that it is not worthy of any funding by us or that it is a viable enterprise.

If the King of fishing tackle world reckons it's such a great enterprise, let him buy it and pay the running costs.

[cesspit]

The problem with the airport was that is should never have been built in the first place.

It was always too closely modeled on London City which itself struggled to get established. London is a world city and Sheffield isn't, so London always had a better chance in supporting a niche business airport then Sheffield.

Nevertheless the KLM service was a success, and was stopped more to do with internal KLM reasons, than to do with the airport. Having said that the airport was so single minded that the only way to go was commercial flights, that it costricted its development, and when it had no commercial flights it had nothing.

Development of Finningley was always a possibility long before work was started on Sheffield. The former should have been the only Sheffield airport.

The problem remains that we do have a Sheffield City Airport. What to do with it? Well there is a hint of strange going ons. Peel have got a conflict of interest, and if they can make cash and get rid, we shouldn't be so surprised. BUT there are vast areas of 'airport-less' brown field sites ripe for development in Sheffield. Shouldn't the council push for these to be developed rather than an area that has already been 'developed'.

So what about the City Airport? First get it out of Peel's hands.
Next get away form the City Airport ideal. Even the best of airports struggle when reliant on SEP ops. The commercial flights will go to Robin Hood. Sheffield will have to act more like a G.A. field, where the radio operator is the fueller, is the fireman e.t.c., just to keep costs down. Break even may well be the only aim, but don't dig up what you have already got.