Doncaster Sheffield Airport: "It's over," say staff as redundancy talks take place

Local politicians have insisted the fight to save the airport – which is due to close at the end of this month goes on, with Labour and Conservative representatives repeatedly clashing in recent days on who is responsible for saving the airport and its 800 staff.

But upset employees have said moves to save DSA are now too late and that workers have been in redundancy talks while parts of the terminal building are aleady being stripped out.

One took to social media to voice their anger and posted: “I don’t think anyone has grasped that it’s over.

"We have had our one to one redundancy interviews. Last commercial flight is November 5 and the airfield will close for good on November 18.

"There is no way it can be saved, (airline operators) TUI and Wizz have committed to other airports.

"Some departments – consort and cargo - have already closed.

“Even if it was to be saved, no one could afford to keep staff and everything going till they find new airlines.

"We are all very sad and gutted to be losing not just our jobs but our family, because that’s what we are.

“It’s over and giving staff false hope for them that are still in denial will hit them hard. This is sad but true.

"Thank you for all the support you have given us and we can’t tell you how much it means to all of us, sometimes you just have to admit defeat.”

Another wrote: “As the fateful days gets even closer, it would be fair to say the majority of us are now resigning ourselves to the fact that DSA will not be DSA for much longer.

"Our hopes were raised when our PM PROMISED to save the airport from closure, however we all know how that turned out.”

“My friends and colleagues are sad, angry and the spark has left the airport.

"We’re not just losing our airport and jobs but we are losing our friends and our airport family.”

Owners Peel said that despite a strategic review, the airport was not financially viable and that ‘no tangible proposals’ had been put on the table to safeguard its future, despite the offer of a financial lifeline from South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard to the group while a new owner was found.

In recent days, both Labour and Conservatives have been involved in a ‘blame game’ over who’s responsiblity it is to save the airport.

Mr Coppard has said that Prime Minister Liz Truss has the power to step in and save DSA, which first opened to commercial flights in 2005, with the PM herself saying on three separate occasions that she would do all she could to save it.

However, Transport Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan says a deal can only be done locally, with Don Valley Tory MP Nick Fletcher repeatedly calling on Mr Coppard and Doncaster Mayor Ros Jones to carry out a compulsory purchase order on the airport, which both have said cannot be done until all other options have been exhausted.