Last ditch bid to save Sheffield City Airport (Read 5,884 times)

[markh]

Thanks for that Lysander, petition signed!

[lysander]

Cheers

[elvis]

Nov 13, 2012 14:19:56 GMT lysander said:

In connection with this last ditch attempt a petition is available to sign on:

www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/sheffieldcityairport

I just did!

[craig79]

Signed! Thanks for the link Lysander.

[lysander]

The petition has now reached its initial target figure. Aimed largely at the Business Community ( SCA was built mainly for business users) it has attracted some influential names.

[lysander]

Have a look at:

www.sheffieldcityairport.co.uk

[mainline]

As much as I'd like for the airport to remain and become operational again, I feel we have got more chance of seeing pigs fly than we have of Sheffield City becoming an operational airport again.

[junesboy]

totally agree with mainline

[lysander]

I have to agree that the odds are stacked against the prospect of reopening but... so long as the runway remains intact then the case for reconsideration will continue to be made.

£millions of public funding ( far more than the £3 million for the spine road) was spent on acquiring the site, rectifying the bodged opencasting, double glazing nearby homes, drainage works etc...all to be given away to an outfit whose ultimate ownership resides without England. This seems to me to make a mockery of all the market research carried out before it was built including the promise of helping assist change to the economy of our sub-region and provide real jobs ...and not the hypothetical job numbers that developers throw around, willy nilly.

[lysander]

Well, it is all becoming very interesting. I understand a Press Release has been issued announcing the very serious interest of a potential buyer, with aviation interests, in re-opening the Airport for Commercial and General Aviation!

[lysander]

As was to be expected the Council's initial reaction is to restate their existing position...conveniently forgetting that the market for which SCA was built is not being provided by DSA. No doubt there will be more on this!

[elvis]

Dec 10, 2012 13:34:24 GMT lysander said:

Well, it is all becoming very interesting. I understand a Press Release has been issued announcing the very serious interest of a potential buyer, with aviation interests, in re-opening the Airport for Commercial and General Aviation!

There was an interview on BBC Radio Sheffield yesterday lunchtime. It was with Paul Blomfield MP for Sheffield Central who basically supported the Federation of Small Businesses call for an enquiry into what really happened at Sheffield City Airport & the future of aviation in South Yorkshire.
At long last, a Labour politician with brain!

[donnyboy]

At the end of the day, all I see in this situation is Sheffield wanting SCA to reopen for the sake of image and nothing more. It was never going to be a successful airport and it didn't work. Aviation now is worse than it was back then and pointing the finger at DSA's failings now is nothing more than an excuse. Sheffield were never in favour of it from the start because sour grapes is a moral foundation the city is built on, never happy unless they get want they want, and knock other places that have things they don't.

Sheffield forum is worse for this but this site comes a close second (probably because the same folk use it).

All this comparing of Sheffield City airport with London City Airport is a step beyond ridiculous. The only comparisons that can be made are the size of the runway, the types of aircraft used and that fact both are in the cities. But at the end of the day, that is all. London is London after all and Sheffield, well, it isn't. There's a huge difference.

And before anyone starts, NO, I am not saying for one second Doncaster is better, but in regards to the Airport itself - the potential is much bigger - if only it was given the support it needed as a SOUTH YORKSHIRE airport by the powers that be AND the public.

[elvis]

Sour grapes & chip on shoulder come to mind; Donneyboy!

[lysander]

Sadly, Donnyboy I do not and never have used Sheffield Forum. You might not like the following facts...but my old profession was dealing in facts and not fantasy.

1) Almost every airport in the UK is showing signs of recovery.
2) At the Enquiry all that is happening at DSA ,with its low traffic numbers, lack of freight traffic etc was forecast.
3) DSA has been returned to Peel by Vantage and , interestingly, just after a 5 year deal was done with Wizzair...who are responsible for over 33% of all current traffic!
4)Losses per passenger are proportionately greater at DSA than ever at SCA!
5) There have been two offers to open SCA for commercial aviation.(see 3 above)
6) SCA was never given a chance to develop and a future enquiry will show how and why this was done.
7) On 31st July 2001 an agreement was signed giving SCA the business and short distance traffic with the then unopened Finningley to have long haul, charter, freight and the leisure business. This agreement was swiftly ignored and fire cover and the ILS removed ...thus making it impossible for any commercial operator to use SCA.
8) Presumably, all the local businesses which were PROMISED better services should be happy that they have not one solitary business oriented flight...anywhere... after the heavily subsidised Belfast service was withdrawn following the demise of Yorkshire Forward. Not one single service from SCA was subsidised!
9) No one wants DSA to fail and image is the very last thing being considered by those who are campaigning to right a wrong-headed decision.
10) Vanity is an expensive commodity and South Yorkshire's business community is not renowned for wasting money!
11) The "powers that be "have given every support possible to DSA. The public can't because of a lack of destinations and, by comparison with other airports, higher fares!