The Peel Airports-owned Robin Hood Doncaster-Sheffield Airport (DSA) launched the grandly titled ‘Northern Vision for a Connected National Economy’ last week, the airport’s 20-year master plan and strategic vision. It goes well beyond what might be expected from an airport that handled 1.3 million passengers in 2017 even if, as the chart below shows, growth has been continuous during the last three years and was especially strong in 2015 and 2016. Robin Hood Doncaster-Sheffield Airport annual traffic: passenger traffic from 2012 to 2017A synopsis of the master plan appears below. Salient words are bolded.

• The East Coast Mainline (ECML) railroad to be connected to airport, making journeys to DSA from London or Newcastle under 90 minutes;
  • Rail link targeted for opening within five years, opening in 2024/2025, and delivering national aviation capacity before planned expansion at London Heathrow Airport;
• Passenger targets:
  • Capacity for 25 million passengers p/a;
  • 11.8 million passengers p/a by 2050 if ECML station realised and delivered in 2024/2025;
• Cargo: 250,000 tonnes p/a;
• Terminal to double in size;
• Up to 8500 new homes in the local area;
• 5.5 million square foot employment space;
• GBP238 million boost to tourism industry;
• Creating the “next Aerotropolis for the UK”, supporting high skilled jobs and opportunities in the North;
• Supporting more than 73,000 new jobs in the Sheffield City region.

Robin Hood Doncaster-Sheffield Airport Passenger Growth