Into thin air: should we be subsidising an airport?

Good afternoon readers — and welcome to our Monday briefing.

Sheffield is the largest European city which doesn’t have its own airport. That fact has been repeated countless times since Doncaster Sheffield Airport closed in November 2022, but by spring 2026 it could be out of date. Last week Doncaster Council unveiled a business case for reopening DSA which stated a preferred bidder had been identified. Do we really need an airport? And is it worth spending lots of money to subsidise one? That’s our big story today.

As well as that, we have a scary-looking home of the week in Meersbrook, some great news about the O2 Academy, and a talk about the history of the pub at the Sheffield Tap.

Catch up

For our weekend read, Dan travelled to Meadowhall to explore the site of the former Imperial Steel Works which over the last 35 years has spontaneously transformed into an urban prairie. As a brownfield site, development here is likely, but should we be thinking about other kinds of value than economic? The piece went down very well with our readers. “Just the type of varied, wonderful journalism I subscribe for,” wrote member Mark Davies. Read the piece here.

Embrace sustainable living at Waverley

From today’s sponsor: The new Sky-House home, Mildred, is the height of sustainable living in South Yorkshire. The delightfully named 4-bed townhouse is designed to let in the maximum amount of natural light and comes with a Vaillant air source heat pump, EV charging and solar panels as standard. Car parking is under an adjoining car port — leaving streets free for neighbours to meet and children to play, and there’s a roof terrace and rear garden for sunny days.

To get more details and to book to see the Mildred showhome in Waverley, click here.

Editor’s note: We tried something a bit different recently on The Tribune — using these august pages to host a debate. Two weeks ago we asked James Evans from the Centre for Cities think tank to weigh in on manufacturing in Sheffield. His conclusion was that it matters — but not as much as you might think: “The degree of attention given to services is a fraction of that given to manufacturing in the region, yet it has grown faster and become bigger than any type of manufacturing”, he wrote. 

Then last week, we had John Yates, formerly of AMRC arguing the opposite case: “Policy makers are now belatedly re-thinking the wisdom of exporting so much of our manufacturing capability to South East Asia,” he wrote. “One area they are looking to as an example is right here.”

These fascinating pieces were both for members only (as is the third and final part of the series going out this week). We loved running them, as they’re a big part of what we want The Tribune to do — open up the big questions, challenge assumptions and get people talking. If you want to read these pieces and join the debate, then just click below.

The big picture: Shots fired 💥

Earlier this year, Dan did a story about the rise of Sheffield slang art in which we questioned whether the “Disneyfication” of our language and culture by certain artists was doing our city a disservice. Now, legendary Sheffield street artist Bubba2000, who he spoke to for the piece, has jumped two-footed into the debate with his latest mural in the city centre. Could this be the start of some major street art beef? “Shots fired!” wrote Bubba on Instagram.

Into thin air: should we be subsidising an airport?

Top line: After being closed for two years, Doncaster Sheffield Airport could reopen as soon as Spring 2026. A preferred bidder has been selected and a full business case submitted last week to the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority says that the airport could bring in billions to our region’s economy. But do the sums add up?

Timeline: Doncaster Sheffield Airport (then called Robin Hood Airport) opened in 2005 on the site of the former RAF Finningley base near Doncaster. Over a million passengers flew from DSA in 2007 but this rapid growth could not be sustained. Even in 2019, the best year for passenger numbers, the airport only saw 1.4 million passengers. At the time of its closure, the Doncaster Chamber told us that total operating losses since the airport opened were believed to be in the vicinity of £250m.

• Budget airline Flybe had already pulled out by 2019, but the Covid pandemic rapidly accelerated the airport’s decline. Wizz Air also left in June 2022 (after only being there for two years), leaving TUI as the only major airline operating out of DSA. 
• Wizz Air leaving seems to have been the final straw. Airport owners Peel Group announced a six week review into whether aviation at the airport was still “commercially viable”, concluding that it wasn’t. The final passenger flights left the airport in November 2022.

Sizeable subsidies: Since then, a broad coalition of local leaders and unions have been campaigning to reopen the airport. City of Doncaster Council entered into a 125 year lease agreement with Peel in March 2024 and SYMCA has promised to give the airport an annual £5.3 million subsidy for the next 26 years (£138 million in total). Welcoming the business case, South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard said he remained “fully committed” to reopening of DSA. He said:

We will give City of Doncaster Council the financial firepower they need while continuing to work at pace to secure the future of DSA, at the same time as making sure we do everything we can to protect taxpayers’ money, and giving the new operator every chance to establish a leading regional airport here in Doncaster.

But big benefits? At the time of its closure, DSA was estimated to support 2,700 jobs in the regional economy (800 of them directly) and contributed an annual net Gross Value Added (a measure of economic value) of £108 million.

• The latest business case outlined ambitious plans to use DSA as an catalyst for South Yorkshire Airport City (SYAC), a plan to develop the area around the airport into a centre for advanced manufacturing and sustainable aviation.
• Doncaster Council’s latest business case projects that SYAC could create over 5,000 direct jobs and 6,500 indirect jobs in the regional economy. It also forecasts a GVA uplift of £6.6 billion and a benefit-cost ratio of 9.1. 

Cloud nine: We haven’t seen the full case yet — but the idea that a previously struggling airport will return nine times as much benefit as is spent on it will raise eyebrows. 

Much depends on whether it can really be a “catalyst” for a much bigger economic project. The area around Doncaster already has a big logistics sector, which will benefit from air connectivity. And freight volumes had been growing before DSA’s closure (see below) though were small compared to other airports like East Midlands Airport.

Climate considerations: Our friends at Now Then published a piece last week arguing the airport should not be reopened. They said that a wide range of experts have questioned whether the economic case for small regional airports like DSA really stacks up, and argued that the climate emergency means we should be making it harder, not easier, for people to fly.

When we asked Coppard about this a year ago, he disputed that argument. “Fewer flights overall: fine,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a thriving airport here in South Yorkshire.” 

Bottom line: Can a reopened DSA really bring in £6.6 billion to South Yorkshire? We’re sceptical, though will wait for more detail on the plans. But for local leaders, this is as much about prestige as it is about gross value added figures. Being the only region in the UK which doesn’t have its own airport is not a tag that our leaders want, and they are prepared to spend a significant sum of money to avoid it.

The weekly Whitworth ✏️

Cartoonist James Whitworth with his take on our story from last week which revealed that overseas doctors and nurses at Rotherham General Hospital have been left homeless after an NHS trust said they could not afford to renovate their accommodation.

This week’s weather 🌦️

Our weather forecast comes from dedicated Sheffield weather service Steel City Skies, who say high pressure will bring a cool but pleasant spell of weather with the best of the sunshine during the first half of the week.

Monday ☀ Largely sunny through the day, dry conditions throughout with light northwest winds. Pleasant in the sun, chilly out of it. Highs of 11°C.

Tuesday ⛅ Dry with bright or sunny spells and mainly light winds from the north. Rather cool though with highs of 11°C.

Wednesday 🌤 Good spells of sunshine throughout the day after a chilly start. Gentle north-northwest winds, and perhaps less cold overnight. 11°C.

Thursday 🌥 Chance of some early low cloud and drizzle which may be slow to clear. Bright spells developing. Highs of 11°C.

Friday ☁ Again potentially cloudier, this cloud could last for much of the day with the odd drizzly spot. Light southwest winds and highs of 11°C.

Outlook 🌬 gradually turning less settled from the north during the weekend with the risk of some light rain. Colder by Sunday, but perhaps brighter.

To see the full forecast and keep up to date with any changes to the outlook, follow Steel City Skies on Facebook.

Our media picks 🔗

Joy as popular live music venue set to reopen 🎸 Significant news reported in The Star that the O2 Academy on Arundel Gate could soon reopen after being closed for over a year. The music venue closed last September after dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) concrete was found in its structure. Now, the building's owners have applied to Sheffield City Council for permission to remove a “RAAC concrete roof deck” and replace it with a flat roof. To read our Monday briefing on the O2 Academy and Sheffield’s live music scene, click here.

How warehouse jobs have transformed the coalfields 🚛 A fascinating piece on the BBC website about the rapid rise in warehousing. As many people are now employed in the industry as worked in coal mining during its peak, and Yorkshire is the “capital” of the sector. In North, South and West Yorkshire, 60,000 people are now employed in more than 1,000 warehouses. Experts say this has brought permanent changes to the demographic make-up and employment in the former coalfield regions, but there are also worries that many of these jobs are vulnerable to future automation. Our piece on the Boohoo warehouse in Tinsley is here.

A play that grips like a true-crime podcast 🎭 Sheffield Theatres’ newest play Kenrex has been getting rave reviews in the national press. The show tells the true story of Ken Rex McElroy, a bully who rules a small American town with an iron fist. Much of the praise goes to Jack Holden, who plays over a dozen roles in the one-man play. This review in the Guardian describes the production as a “kind of true-crime version of Under Milk Wood”. Kenrex finishes on Saturday but there are only a few tickets left so you’ll have to be quick.

Home of the week 🏡

This three bedroom detached home in Meersbrook caught our eye this week. The property has plenty of positives: it’s in a lovely area, is reasonably priced and has no onward chain. On the negative side, it looks like it could have been used in a 70s folk horror film and the green bathroom is vomit inducing. Dare you put in a bid? If so, it is on the market for £250,000.

Tribune tips: If you want to tell us about a story or give us some information, please get in touch with us by emailing editor@sheffieldtribune.co.uk. We are happy to speak to people off the record, and we guarantee we will treat your information with confidence and sensitivity.

Things to do 📆

🍻 Over the last 300 years, public houses have profoundly influenced how Sheffield has evolved as an industrial and post-industrial urban space. As part of the University of Sheffield’s Being Human festival, on Wednesday, a panel of local publicans, alcohol producers and beer enthusiasts will gather at the Sheffield Tap for Pints of Interest: Pubs as Social Landmarks, a night of debate about the history and future of the pub. The free event runs from 6.30pm-9pm.

🎼 Also on Wednesday, music students at the University of Sheffield will be hosting another of their popular rush hour concerts. Throughout term time the university runs a series of free informal recitals and events in Firth Hall, featuring performances from the talented students from the Department of Music as well as visiting guests. There is no need to book a ticket, just turn up on the day. The event begins at £5.30pm, and is completely free to attend. 

🎭 This week, join Totley Operatic and Dramatic Society (TOADS) as they perform Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, a classic whodunit in which a group of strangers are invited to an isolated island where they are murdered one by one for their past crimes. The play opens at St Johns Church Hall, Abbeydale Road South, on Wednesday and runs until Saturday. To reserve your ticket, please call Jeff on 0114 235 1206 or email tickets@toads-drama.co.uk.

Thanks again to our sponsors Sky-house. You can book in to meet Mildred here.