Sheffield City Airport Doomed

[helicopter-redeye]

Sheffield City Airport (More Doomed Than Before)

Faced with ongoing losses at the Airport and the expectation that no residuary sum will be payable, the City Council would in 2007 have little or no choice but to transfer of the freehold of the land for £1 and allow, subject to planning, the potential redevelopment of the airport site in its entirety for other uses. This creates a backdrop to the more recent discussions regarding the circumstances under which the City Council would consider early closure or limitation of the Airport facilities.

From the consultants report into EGSY, located on the Sheffield City Council website and reported on regional TV news this evening (you can see a nice red helicopter looking sad in the background if you are quick ...)

http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/index.asp?pgid=49526

The same consultants who have been advising SCA since 1998, so throughout the period of airport operation - (www.yorkaviation.co.uk) also note later in the report that to continue operating the airport would require a reimbursement to the operator.

Given the fact that the Airport continues to make a loss and looks set to do so for the foreseeable future, the original Development Agreement and Lease mean that the Developer is within its rights to close the Airport in 2007. The only options open to the public sector are to buy out the developer and support the operation of the Airport financially at a cost of upwards of £25 million or agree to its closure.

Either by accident or design, the SCC website was updated by somebody named Slaughter. How ironic..

[Sir George Cayley]

As Peel paid York Aviation to do the report do you think it would have ever come to the opposite conclusion?

Don't blame York though. Just doing what all consultants have done time imemorial.

Tell the client what they already know and then get paid for it!


Sir George Cayley

[helicopter-redeye]

Tell the client what they already know and then get paid for it!

I believe the correct form is "tell the client what they WANT and get paid for it"

A point made in the report is that one cannot really land regional air transport aircraft at EGSY because the runway is too short.

However I have seen Dash 8 aircraft touch on the 28 threshold and have stopped by the Bravo exit without a backtrack and excessive breaking (much to the admiration of the then controller! Gave him somebody to talk to before GA was allowed).

[MichaelJP59]

Ridiculous that the report continually cites Manchester Airport as being easy to get to from Sheffield and quotes 65 minutes - as someone who drives this route every day there is no way you can get from the city centre to MAN in that time unless it's about 4.30am! The route is a winding goat trail over the moors that feeds into the appalling bottleneck that is Glossop/Mottram. More like 70-90 minutes typically.

When you consider all the cities/towns that are smaller than Sheffield and have a convenient local airport it's a crying shame that the airport looks like it's doomed.

It could also mean the end of regular flying for me as Gamston, Netherthorpe etc. are all more than an hour's drive away, which makes even a short flight virtually an all day affair

[helicopter-redeye]

Certainly not an easy drive, esp as most of the business flights leave at 0630 - 0700hrs range to reach "Europe" which is an hour ahead.

For me to get to work in Brussels via Manchester means getting up at 0400hrs (not at your best, see the ATPL Human Factors course to understand more) to be in Brussels for 0930,

From Sheffield Airport it was a 15 min drive.

NB Winding goat track is a bit of an exageration. Its much worse than that (esp in the snow ....)

[MikeJ]

Sheffield runway too short for regional airlines?
London City gets more and more successful, jets and all - and its MUCH shorter than Sheffield - well 12m shorter!
Mike.

[Noah Zark.]

At the Grand Opening of the airport, there was a 146 and an ATP present if I recall.
Also when KLM were flying from there, their Fokkers managed with ease to get in and out.
Its a rip-off!

[niknak]

Yes there were a lot of aeroplanes of all shapes and sizes using Sheffield for a very short period of time, the trouble is that there weren't enough passengers to make any of the routes viable.
Put an airport next to a motorway, within easy reach of national rail links, only 1 hours drive from Humberside and Leeds and try and operate similar routes with more expensive fares - I wonder why it wasn't a success?

Having been involved in it's operation for a while, I know that it rapidly became a very expensive white elephant and no one in their right mind would have taken it on as a commercial enterprise after all the scheduled routes failed.

It doesn't take a genius to work out that Peel only took it on because it helped smooth the political path for the development of Robin Hood - a fact they've never denied.

It would be great if Sheffield could remain available as a G/A facility, but who would pay the bills?

Come up with an answer to that, and you'll probably find that it will stay open.

[MichaelJP59]

I'm not sure though niknak, it seems as though if there were no other factors, it could at least break even as a GA airfield, the quoted running costs in the report seem rather high.

However, as the report states, the developers have a lock on this one, as they are virtually certain to get the land in 2007 for £1. Anyone wanting to take on the airfield would have to buy them out of that lucrative option, hardly a likely scenario.

Another small but significant nail in the coffin for practical GA, and another blow to Sheffield's ambitions to compete with Leeds and Manchester as an international city. Yes, the writing has been on the wall for some considerable time, but that doesn't make the end result any more palatable.

[helicopter-redeye]

there weren't enough passengers to make any of the routes viable

I recall the Amsterdam flights were always full to the brim (compared to a lot of the Amsterdam flights from Manchester that are not ...)

It doesn't take a genius to work out that Peel only took it on because it helped smooth the political path for the development of Robin Hood - a fact they've never denied

Or to get prime development land for a low cost? They may have missed out on the SDC phase of development. The asset can also be used to raise capital in its current or projected form.


For GA success, compare Sheffield with Gamston (and look at all the bizjets in the hangar at Gamston) or Denham.

Perhaps the consultants should look to Option "C" or "D" and suggest somebody else gets the chance to run EGSY for GA for a £1.

This would be more palatable than Option A (close and build for a £1) or Option B (pay the current operators for their trouble in failing to make a profit)


Incidently has any other UK city ever spent money on building an airport then closed it with ten years?

[cesspit]

So is Sheffield airport totally DOOMED, or are they still going ahead with the idea of halving the runway, and keeping it open to GA & helis?

At least with this option Sheffield will still come away with something.

[Ginge_One]

Does anyone know what happened at the council meeting yesterday?

[Dog's Bone]

Sad to say but that is the eventual outcome we all believed would happen. Peel only got involved with Sheffield for two reasons: (1) Sheffield was a major objector to Finningley being developed into a civil airport, and (2) the development land which is available. Number (1) conveniently removed an objector from the DSA list and (2) was a bonus for brownfield development.

It did not really need a report to state the obvious. Losses as noted in the report could never be sustained, especially when the land is so valuable for other uses!!! With Finningley nearby, Sheffield Airport doesn't make sense to airline operators in today's business world and keeping it open for GA is not going to make it anymore viable.

We can now see where the similarities lie with regards to Barton and its uncertain future. No doubt York will be invited to prepare a similar report on that airfield. Looks like we shall end up with a mini heliport at both places.

[Ginge_One]

The management are claiming that the airport will remain as is until 2007, no matter what the report says!!

[helicopter-redeye]

Sheffield is the forth largest city in the UK and has a population greater than the nation of Iceland (who have at least nine airports - there may be more but I have not been to them all).

In 2004 the City Council noted that :-

given Sheffield is the fourth largest City in England and has high economic regeneration aspirations, the option of having a city airport for Sheffield should be kept open and any move to close the Airport would be a major economic step backwards

How many cities in the UK have opened and then closed an airport??

How many cities in the UK have such bad rail and road links with the rest of the country? (Esp rail).

Check out this quotation from the Council Website, May 2004:-

3.3 As freeholder, the City Council has in place a restricted clause within the lease that requires the Airport to be kept at a fully operational status for ten years after the date of its opening. This period will expire in 2007, at which point the granting of the freehold to the Airport operators cannot be reasonably withheld.

So it is not a question of granting access to 2007. There is no choice.

Check this quotation as well:-

4.3 In so doing, the Council would be agreeing to release its land interest in the Airport site covering both the runway and the terminal buildings and apron. However, Members should note that SCAL have proposed a development of a heliport within the hub of the business park, and as part of the Memorandum of Understanding they are prepared to commit to maintain the heliport as available for operations for a period of ten years from the date of signing of the Understanding. This would in effect therefore convert the current period of protection that expires in 2007 for the full Airport into a period of protection extending to 2014 at the earliest for retaining significant helicopter and fixed wing capacity. Specifically, SCAL will be asked to use all reasonable endeavours to secure scheduled helicopter services. This opportunity will be made available for the full ten year period as referred to earlier

2014. '... significant fixed wing and helicopter services'.

Here is the link: http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/index.asp?pgid=26549


And finally Ester, from my Prune PMs of 17 November 2004, from another PPruner:-

I sent an e-mail to my M.P., Richard Caborn expressing my concerns about the situation, saying amongst other things that yet again, Sheffield is becoming a laughing-stock. We will soon be the only city in Europe to have opened itself a new airport, had revenue earning flights from it, lost them, closed down and sold off the site within ten years.

As it happens, I received a letter from Caborn this morning. Bearing in mind that in the e-mail I sent, I had not mentioned Finningley at all, this is all that is in the reply.

"Thank you for your e-mail of 9 November about Sheffield City Airport. I appreciate what you say, but a decision has now been taken to develop the airport at Finningley."

A full 6 months before the 'independent study' by 'consultants' (who have worked extensively for Peel Airports (see York Aviation Consultants website for details) and advised on the setting up of EGSY (oops, did well there then..).

Like, but unlike, certain car manufacturers, let someone else have a go if they can't run it as a business that listens to their customers. £1 a fair price for the risk involved ...

[Noah Zark.]

Sheffield Airport have been criticised of late for the rather high landing fees that are in force there.
What isn't said, and ought to be, for a bit of positive publicity if you like, is that if you uplift 50 litres or more of fuel, the landing charge is waived.

[maggioneato]

Noah Zark. We visited Sheffield today and uplifted 74 litres of fuel, just as you said, no landing fee was payable. I didn't know about that so many thanks. Shame if it does close, it's a really nice friendly airfield to visit.

[Kolibear]

Just reading in my (2004) AFE Guide, the entry for Sheffield says 'PPR by Fax'

Why - whats wrong with the phone?

[Circuit Basher]

Kolibear - never been there, but from earlier threads on PPRuNe, ISTR that they ask for your insurance details, etc that they keep a hard copy of, hence the need for a fax. Once they have these details after your first trip, then you can phone for PPR.

I believe that I've remembered this correctly (I haven't trawled back to find the original thread, but I'm sure a search would get it for you).

[maggioneato]

You ring them, they fax you the guide to single engine aeroplane pilots using Sheffield City Airport, you fax them back with your details and you have understood the joining and noise abatement etc. After that you can come and go as you please by phone but the first visit as above.