Is this the end of the runway for Doncaster Sheffield Airport?

Good afternoon members — and welcome to today’s Tribune.

It wasn’t unexpected, but Monday’s news that Doncaster Sheffield Airport is to close in the next few weeks still felt like a huge moment. The 800 staff who work there are the people most directly affected, but the fact that South Yorkshire’s political leaders are using words like “devastated” and “betrayal” show just how much the region has invested in the future of the site. However, despite DSA owner Peel’s decision, there are still hopes that a deal can be reached that would see it survive. Is the airport saveable? And if we can save it, should we?

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Editor’s note: We had originally hoped to bring you a story today about the anti-abortion demonstrations outside the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, but that story is taking a bit more time to put together. We’ll publish that next week instead.

News round up

🏡 A sad story in The Star looks at how one Sheffield neighbourhood is preparing for a winter in which the cost of living crisis could really bite. The Stradbroke “community flat” will be open to anyone from the area as a place to stay warm, get a shower, wash their clothes and use the internet. The flat has been given free to the Link Community Hub by the council following an impassioned speech manager Helen Eadon gave at full council last summer.

🍺 The Brewers Journal report that a much-loved Sheffield brewery has been saved from closure. Back in May, Kelham Island Brewery announced it was closing after more than 30 years in business, leaving fans of its iconic Pale Rider beer devastated. However, a group from Sheffield including Tramlines co-founder and venue owner James O’Hara and Thornbridge Brewery have now reached an agreement that secures its long term future.

🎸 A great interview in The Guardian with Arctic Monkeys lead singer Alex Turner ahead of the release of the band’s seventh studio album The Car in October. Turner talks about the new record but also his experience of fame, 17 years on from the band’s explosion onto the music scene in 2005. Tickets for the band’s two Hillsborough Park shows next summer went on sale this morning — although by the time you read this they’ll probably be sold out!

Things to do

🍿 Now in its 15th year, Sensoria is Sheffield’s annual festival of film and music. This year’s programme begins at South Street Kitchen on Friday with a six-course “music and food tasting menu” followed by the Maximum Impact wearable art workshop at Event Central on Saturday. The full programme of events from 30 September to 8 October (including a special screening of the great Studio Electrophonique documentary) can be found at the website.

🎸 Playing live at The Leadmill this Saturday night (1 October) are the Lancashire Hotpots, a comedy-folk band from St Helen’s on Merseyside. The band, whose songs all make use of the Lancashire dialect, have been entertaining crowds all over the country since 2006 with songs like "He's Turned Emo", "Chippy Tea" and "eBay Eck" (To give you an idea of what they are like, think the Everly Pregnant Brothers but from the other side of the Pennines).

💉 Coming to the Peddler Warehouse on Saturday and Sunday is the Sheffield Tattoo Festival, the city's first major tattoo event since 2016. The diverse lineup celebrates a wide selection of tattoo styles and disciplines, including many people who are often underrepresented in the tattoo community. Across the weekend you’ll find some of the region’s most exciting tattoo artists alongside Peddler's signature blend of street food, craft drink and live music.

Is this the end of the runway for Doncaster Sheffield Airport?

After months of uncertainty about the future of Doncaster Sheffield Airport, a decision has finally been reached — and it’s not the one that many people in the region wanted. Earlier this week, owners Peel announced that DSA would close at the end of October, bringing to an end 17 years of commercial aviation at the former RAF Finningley site.

The closure would mean Sheffield will once again have the dubious honour of being the largest European city which doesn’t have its own airport (and now, thanks to Doncaster recently being awarded city status, South Yorkshire will have two of the biggest cities in Europe without an airport). Even given the arguments about aviation’s impact on climate change, losing an airport hardly screams a region on the up, does it?

The decision came after Peel turned down an offer of more financial help from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and Doncaster Council. They say they could not accept the money against a backdrop of an “unviable, loss-making” business. For many leaders in South Yorkshire, the calculation is different: the airport is believed to be worth more than £100m to the local economy every year — hence their keenness to save it.