XH558 to leave Doncaster in 2023, either dismantled or by ferry flight..

[Alfie]

What about Aerospace Bristol as a new home.

[andygolfer]

What about Aerospace Bristol as a new home.

I'm sure there's no space there, the main building (old hangars) is pretty much full of aircraft and with the construction of it getting a Vulcan in if it were empty would be hard enough let alone with it full of aircraft. The Concorde hangar was purpose built to house their Concorde and there is nowhere else there even if the museum wanted it although to be honest the Concorde was Filton built and I very much doubt they would want an aircraft lacking Bristol heritage in there . Google earth gives a good idea of how the Concorde hangar was built to house just that.
Andy

[Tiger 1]

Could XH558 end up at the Avro Heritage Museum... obviously not by a ferry flight but by road possibly?

T1

[plmc135]

Could XH558 end up at the Avro Heritage Museum... obviously not by a ferry flight but by road possibly?

T1

They already have XM603 and the nose of XM602 so why on earth would they want yet another Vulcan?

[Tiger 1]

Only a thought... be great if it did end up there... wouldn't it?

[Unknown74]

Just been watching Prime Ministers Questions and someone has just asked Miss Truss about Doncaster Airport regarding saving it, If it is saved will XH558 stay after all?

[iainpeden]

I noticed her support for regional airports as well; but it all takes money and that area also has East Midlands, Humber and Leeds/Bradford.

[cat1]

Could XH558 end up at the Avro Heritage Museum... obviously not by a ferry flight but by road possibly?

T1

They already have XM603 and the nose of XM602 so why on earth would they want yet another Vulcan?

Only another vulcan
It's like there's so many around atm.

[Nighthawke]

There are 14 full frames in the UK plus a similar number of nose sections. Far more than many other types.

[2e1var]

Nick Fletcher MP
18 h
·
AIRPORT CRISIS - DAY 76
Well it has definitely been a journey these past 76 days.
A long and tortuous journey that I would have chosen, as am sure you all would agree, never to have embarked upon.
From the outset I always asked for the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (CA) led by Oliver Coppard to make an offer to Peel to save DSA.
And for Peel to work with CA to make this happen.
Reluctant partners maybe, but for the greater good they needed to work together.
My job as the MP for the airport was to press for this to happen and to keep all concerned informed and wherever possible to ask government to use their influence too.
Your job was to share and sign the petition and shout from the rooftops about how important DSA is and what it means to us all.
At the final hour the CA have played their part.
Government under instruction of our new Prime Minister Liz Truss have pressed Oliver Coppard and Peel and also offered future technical support.
You have more than done your job and I hope you feel that I have tried to do mine.
So it’s just Peel Holdings to do the right thing now? We will find out that tomorrow.
But this is not the end, whatever the outcome.
If it’s good news, it will be over to us all again. Let’s book our holidays in future from this website:
https://www.dsaflights.co.uk/flights
Not click where you want to go to but where you want to go from.
Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
This way we build and get more flights and more destinations.
And it will be down to the CA to champion our airport too, not to be a reluctant partner but to use its voice to tell the world of our wonderful airport.
And me. I need to press for every opportunity our new ‘government of growth’ can offer, and of course “Speak Up Doncaster” and DSA everywhere I go.
Trust me I will.
See you on the other side.
Let’s all pray for a good result everyone. I know that I am.
#SaveDSA #Doncasterisgreat

[2e1var]

From Planet Radio



Doncaster Sheffield Airport is set to close
Flights are set to wind down from the 31st of October

An announcement has been made this morning that Doncaster Sheffield Airport is set to close.

The future of the airport has been under review after the Peel Group, who own the airport, say the commercial viability of the site has become unattainable.

The group say flights are set to wind down from the 31st of October.

A statement from the Peel Group says:

"Today the Peel Group announces that the Strategic Review at Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) has ended. Regretfully, no tangible proposals have been received regarding the ownership of the airport or which address the fundamental lack of financial viability. The high fixed costs associated with running a safe, regulated airport, together with recent events materially reducing prospective future aviation income streams, mean that a break-even business plan cannot be identified for the foreseeable future.

"As a result, DSA will begin winding down the provision of aviation services during the week commencing Monday, 31 October 2022. DSA will continue to work closely with airport customers and other users to explain the impact of this service reduction and work with them to minimise the disruption to their operations and customers.

"Since the July 2022 announcement of the Strategic Review, Peel has been actively engaging on a weekly basis with local and national political stakeholders, including proactively engaging with working group meetings, primarily led by officers at Doncaster Council, South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) and the Department for Transport (DfT). Throughout the consultation process up until today, Peel has also been in close contact with the airlines and other aviation users of the Airport. None of these discussions has delivered any tangible results that have changed the Board of DSA or Peel’s clear view that the Airport is and will remain unviable.

"Peel received a letter from the Mayor of South Yorkshire and Mayor of Doncaster on Thursday, 8 September, stating that they had completed an economic impact study of DSA which identified its economic benefit to the region but provided no solution to its lack of financial viability. Furthermore, they informed Peel that they had been approached by a group interested in purchasing or operating the airport. Peel has yet to receive a response to urgent requests for details on the consortium's identity, nor have the terms of any proposal or evidence of the consortium's financial standing or aviation expertise been provided.

"On Friday, 23 September, Peel received a further letter from SYMCA and Doncaster Council, which was supported by the Mayor of South Yorkshire and the Mayor of Doncaster, along with the Leaders of Barnsley and Rotherham, which included a proposal to provide public money to DSA to fund its operating losses until 31 October 2023. The grant was described as providing DSA with free cashflow to sustain losses that may occur over thirteen months while the Peel Group and South Yorkshire partners jointly explore the future potential of DSA and the GatewayEast site. In the absence of any actual proposals to address the lack of viability of DSA, even those at an early stage of development, or any identified potential acquirers or operators of DSA, Peel’s Board has concluded that it cannot responsibly accept public money for this highly uncertain process against the backdrop of an unviable, loss-making operating business.

Robert Hough, Chairman of Peel Airports Group, which includes Doncaster Sheffield Airport, said:

“We recognise that this will come as a great disappointment to many. The intractable problem remains the fundamental and insufficient lack of current or prospective revenue streams, together with the airport’s high operating costs. Our employees have always been DSA’s greatest asset, and we are grateful to them all, past and present, for their dedication and diligence over the years. The immediate priority remains to continue engaging closely with them over the next few weeks.

“As such, DSA will now begin a formal process of consulting with team members. We will do everything we can to minimise the impact of these proposals and work closely with local authorities and agencies to support our employees through what we know will be an extremely difficult period. DSA has remained in contact with union representatives on site throughout and we are committed to ensuring they are updated through every step of this next phase.”

Steven Underwood, Chief Executive, Peel Group said:

“We recognise that we are living in uncertain times, and we understand that our announcement will be difficult to hear for the Doncaster and wider South Yorkshire communities in which we have worked and invested for over two decades. However, as has been seen many times before in industries undergoing structural change, although change brings uncertainty it can also bring significant opportunity.

“As the Strategic Review concludes, we look forward to collaborating with our partners to create a vibrant, long-term vision for GatewayEast and the airport site. We will not accept any public sector grant to cover the costs of an airport that is not viable due to its lack of adequate forward revenues and high operating costs. Accepting funds from SYMCA may postpone the inevitable for another thirteen months, but it will divert funds away from services on which communities throughout South Yorkshire rely.

“Instead, we intend to continue working closely with local and national stakeholders to develop a forward-thinking strategy for the airport site, in conjunction with the £1.7 billion GatewayEast development next door, to help unlock vibrant, job-creating alternatives to ensure future growth and prosperity. We have the potential to attract cutting-edge, future-tech businesses to South Yorkshire, but only if we are able to collaborate with our local stakeholders and community in South Yorkshire.”

[2e1var]

In summary, not flying out, will try to retain as much functionality as possible, her engines won't run again. It's sad but even as a runner it's questionable that it's worth the effort given that we have another couple of examples. We've plenty of static Vulcans.

XH558 TRUST UPDATE
In August, we advised that our lease at Doncaster Sheffield Airport would not be renewed and that we would have to leave the site by the end of June 2023. Since early Spring this year, we have been exploring options for XH558 to leave Doncaster.
XH558 flew into the airport in March 2011 and we believed that the old RAF Finningley would be her permanent home as defined in our plans for the Vulcan Experience. Sadly, the funding appeal failed and we had to work hard to secure a new and permanent home for both XH558 and English Electric Canberra WK163
We also advised that we were working on potential sites where we know we can protect XH558 for decades to come and deliver on Robert Pleming’s vision of telling the Cold War story, the role of the V-Force and inspiring youngsters to pursue meaningful and productive careers in engineering.
Clearly, as the sites will be away from Doncaster, this relocation will bring significant challenges but outcomes we believe the VTST can deliver. We talked to the CAA about the possibility of a short ferry flight for XH558 but we now believe that this is not possible. The advice was that legally, we would need to appoint a Design Authority to assess and then oversee the restoration to flight work and without a DA, no application could be considered. We have approached three companies to look at feasibility, timeline and costs and, to date, one has declined to support and the other two organisations have not responded to contract for this work. Informal research has also indicated that insurance for such a flight would be prohibitively expensive. While we acknowledge that it is extremely sad to dismantle XH558 it will mean that ultimately, she will be preserved and will still be able to inform, educate and inspire future generations of engineers. The process will be handled by professional, experienced partners who are sympathetic to our aims and understand the significance of this work, all with the intention of retaining as much functionality as possible.
We now have two potential locations in negotiation and we are in conversation with The National Heritage Lottery Fund on an options appraisal to ensure we ultimately deliver the best future for this important heritage asset aligning our aims with the original Heritage Fund contract. Although she will no longer be running her engines, in both cases we will once again be able to offer the opportunity to be close to XH558 in an exciting, undercover facility that her thousands of supporters can enjoy.
As you would expect, we have also considered the possibility of remaining at DSA if a new owner were to be found. Because the future of the site is so uncertain, we cannot robustly plan for this in a way that would provide security for XH558, or guarantee access to her for our supporters. Our thoughts remain with the staff of the airport, with whom we have worked for so many years, at this challenging time. Nonetheless, we must recognise that the owners of DSA have stated their intention to close the site.
As soon as a decision has been made regarding the final destination for XH558 we’ll be able to get started with the move and we’ll keep our supporters updated throughout this process.
Between now and the end of June 2023, we are investigating what access we can offer to supporters given we understand the airfield will be closed from mid-November. We have asked for clarification from DSAL and are awaiting their feedback. Many supporters have their names or those of their loved ones under the wing of XH558 and clearly want to see them in place.
Whilst visiting in the short term is currently outside of our control we will up-date everyone when we have further news. We can give an assurance though that once she is safe in her permanent home, we will prepare her for the public to visit and we plan to replace all donors’ names on new plaques ahead of this time; everyone’s name is mapped and will be easy to find.