Whilst staff at Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield airport are preparing to celebrate the 5th birthday of the airport, the celebrations are also recognition that the business has come through the tough economic conditions of recent times and indeed is now forging ahead in its development as a commercial, cargo and training operation. Airport Director Mike Morton has held the top job at Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield for almost two years, having previously worked for BA World Cargo, Servisair and a period of time at Coventry Airport as operations director.
“Where we’ve been and where we are now is quite interesting because when I first walked through the door we had a terminal second to none within Yorkshire certainly”, enthuses Mike. “The newest airport in the UK for the last 50 years, it was said at the time, and also of I think major importance is a terminal that was future proofed. In 2008 we concluded the draft masterplan with the ability from the airport currently running at circa 1 million passengers a year up to 2016 we equated that to 4.4 million, and thereafter I think it was 10.6 million in 2030. So a very exciting future.”
However, after taking the reins in May 2008 the economic downturn was pretty much his first immediate challenge to deal with. “After I joined the economic downturn really did hit us and I saw the effects probably in August 2008. We saw a deterioration, so from a peak of 1.1 million passengers back in 2007 we had 945,000 in 2008, 2009 we were looking at just over 800,000 - about 830,000 passengers over the full year. Now year on year that’s a 14% reduction in passenger numbers.” A business so young in its development can obviously do without falling numbers of customers, but these were not so different when compared to other airports in the UK at the time and Mike always retained confidence in his team to turn things around.
His arrival at Robin Hood also coincided with an operational review within the Peel Airport Group, the owners of the airport. This was pretty good timing in reality as it enabled the business to structure itself to deal with the ongoing slide in economic conditions and Mike was able to input his own thoughts into that process at an early stage. But he is quick to acknowledge the credit for the position that the airport finds itself in today. “If you’d have asked me last year I’d have said we’d have probably had a similar if not worse year in terms of passenger numbers this year. However, we have bucked the trend and a lot of credit to our commercial sales people both here and at Liverpool because what they’ve been able to do is turn it round.”
The turn around sees low cost carrier Easyjet moving into Robin Hood from April 19th, bringing five additional routes and an extra 21 flights a week to the airport. Equally significant has been the introduction of the Aer Lingus service to Dublin, where passengers can travel onward to the United States. With security and customs cleared in Ireland it’s a smooth onward journey to the USA. “We launched in March and it was quite interesting, one of the articles in the Doncaster Star, headline news, Donny to JFK, so that was fabulous. So we can fly from here now into Dublin, on a flight with Aer Lingus and go into either Boston or JFK which is fantastic news.” Doncaster Sheffield also boasts the second largest hub for Wizz in the UK, the low cost Polish carrier, who have expanded their portfolio of flights recently with the re-introduction of the Wroclaw service. “They’re all real positives for the airport”, enthuses Mike . “So much so that we’re looking at this year for a growth of some 40%. So forecast figures for the coming year will be up to 1.2 million passengers, which is more than we’ve ever done while the airport’s been open.”
So on the commercial passenger front things are moving forward, but Mike is keen to point out that Robin Hood is a multi-faceted operation and it is this mix which strengthens its business position. “I’ll keep talking about us being unique as an airport because we’re not just about the commercial passenger operation. We have other facets of the business which would be the business aviation, the cargo and also, more recently over the course of the last year, we’ve got the training elements, so there’s a combination of business that we have at Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield airport. And a personal viewpoint, the only other airport comparable to that during its growth was Luton Airport.”
Moving onto the cargo operation and whilst the movements at present are of an ad hoc nature, the sales team at the airport are working hard to attract scheduled services. This was boosted recently by a change negotiated successfully with the local authority. “What we’ve done from an airport perspective, we’ve been to Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council , earlier this year - February of 2010 - and we put a proposal in front of the planning committee to vary our current Section 106, which under the present conditions does not allow us to operate QC4 aircraft on a scheduled basis, particularly during the night flying hours of 23:00 to 06:00. The variation we’ve agreed with DMBC now allows us to operate 100 movements a year and that will help us an awful lot going out to pull that business back in.”
The Section 106 agreement with the local authority sets out certain parameters under which the airport can operate pertaining to matters such as noise control, air traffic and night flying. The Quota Count (QC) system classification relates to aircraft noise certification data, depending upon the amount of noise an aircraft makes under certain conditions, for example a 747 is classified as a QC4 aircraft on take-off and a QC2 on landing. Bringing the business back in refers to how the cargo operation was also hit hard by the economic climate. After a successful month in August of 2008 with 13 freighters into the airport, the business dried up. The airport’s sales and marketing team have worked hard to bring the heavies back, bringing spectacular results in the shape of the An-225 ‘Dream’ visiting in February this year.
Morton is also quick to address the concerns of local residents that the floodgates might have been opened with the recent ruling change with regard to cargo operations. “For our local residents the point I would make, and we made at the planning committee, and I’ll make it again now, this is not about going out and filling the sky of a night with cargo flights; we’re already and always have been a 24/7 operation. What this allows us to do, and particularly our cargo sales team in Liverpool, is to go out on behalf of the airport and bring in business without having to tell the freighter operators we have any restrictions in place.”
Probing the cargo operation further, has the airport got everything in place to attract a potential scheduled cargo service to base itself at Robin Hood? Mike believes it has. “I do, but I wouldn’t suggest that we sit on our laurels. The business we’ve got at the moment is ad hoc; you are right we are looking to bring scheduled flights in. I think in terms of connectivity we’ve got five main motorways within 20 minutes of the airport and that for the next couple of years will help us maintain that scheduled service.” A link road to the M18 motorway remains the desired outcome and work is ongoing with the airport and its partners to secure this in the long term.
The third main element of the airport’s operation is now business aviation and training apprenticeships. In the old RAF Hanagar 3 now reside BAE Systems who run apprenticeships resulting in a B1/B2 qualification for maintenance on military aircraft, with the training provided by Lufthansa Resource Technical Training. BAE Systems has a five year deal with Directions Finningley, who lease the hangar from the airport. This training is very important from the community point of view for the airport, as Mike explains. “The five year deal will see some 500 apprentices go through the system and gain that qualification. For South Yorkshire I would suggest the importance of that is of the current crop of apprentices going through the system some 22% are locally based which is fantastic news, which again ticks the box for the regeneration we keep talking about.”
Moving onto the business aviation scene and in the old Hangar 2, a new resident is causing quite a stir, providing the airport with an additional 600-800 movements each year. “The company have been in the hangar for the last 2-3 months, a company called Kinch Aviation. Now this is really exciting for us again. Paul Kinch and his team have resited themselves from Gamston Airport, and they also had a facility in Luton Airport, and Paul and his team have sited in Hangar 2, and what they are, and again its important to get this point across, they are one of only three Cessna Citation approved centres in the UK; there’s one down at Cambridge Airport and another one at Bournemouth. So for the Midlands and the north of England we’ve got Paul Kinch and his team, and what these guys are providing is what we call an MRO (Maintenance Repair Overhaul) facility. So what we have is an aircraft that can come in now to Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport and be maintained by the relevant personnel.
"And also within Hangar 2 we’ve got a pair of paint booths - state of the art paint booths - a five million pound investments that was made again by Directions Finningley with the help of Yorkshire Forward. And what you suddenly see now is aircraft, business aviation aircraft, coming into the airport that will land, be hauled into the hangar, maintained or repaired and also if required now can have the paint refit. It suddenly starts to build this picture of the one stop shop - the centre of excellence at the airport - and as I said at the start of the interview this is a real, real opportunity for the airport to put themselves on the map, and I think in terms of where we are now, we just see this growing and growing and working with our partners in helping that happen.”
The airport does not lack space and last year rumours were circulating that the mighty Vulcan might come to be based at Robin Hood along with a visitor centre. “Yes we were approached, we were approached back in 2008 by the Vulcan to the Sky team and I must say I saw the Vulcan bomber for the first time in 2009; quite impressive to say the least. At the moment I believe the aircraft is based down at Lyneham and I’m not sure what the plans are going forward but certainly yes, we’re always available to have that conversation with the guys from VTTS. They’re a fantastic team and doing a fantastic job, so we’d never rule anything out.” There’s no denying the interest this move would create in the airport should it ever come to fruition, only time will tell if this is a practical move for all parties concerned.
So going forward things look a lot brighter than they were last year, and Mike believes there’s a real confidence within his team that the airport will succeed. “I certainly see there’s a buzz. And the people who’ve been here from day one are people who’ve always believed this airport was going to be a success and they’ve sat through thick and thin. It was probably the start of this year that I realised how much of a buzz the place was because I have the regular contact with my people; I like to get out and about but it was interesting talking to one of the team leaders from Servisair, and you could tell by the looks on the faces and this was after the lions had come in; there was a sense of it being realised now at Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield airport.” Mike refers to the recent cargo operation which saw 13 lions rehomed from Romania to the nearby Yorkshire Wildlife Park. This event was more excellent publicity for the airport.
“We have put now in place a number of parts of the business where we’re seeing the benefits, and it’s starting to deliver. So yes, certainly a buzz, certainly a buzz for the team and they’ve all worked very, very hard, and it's credit to all the management team of all the different companies that work at the airport because this is about team effort - it isn’t just about the airport, its about everybody on site here and in answer to your question yes there’s a real buzz about the place.”
Future plans include some cosmetic work within the terminal building to give, “a better feel for customers and also, as important, to make sure our tenants on site are given the best opportunities to operate in the right environment. Transatlantic and middle eastern flights are also on the books for the team and they’re aiming to do that. What we will find is, as time goes on the profile of the airport is rising both in the UK and in Europe and as time moves on with that profile and the focus being on the airport going forward, yes we will see those flights come in.”
Mike and his team are certainly not resting on their laurels though and are already looking ahead beyond the summer season. “We’re looking for our best year ever this year and also just one final point is, we see this now as a step change, that we’ll move on from this as we go forward, so we’ll have a bigger winter programme, and we’ll prove what we need to prove at the airport with the destinations and passenger numbers and grow from there."
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