Should Ryanair return to Doncaster/Sheffield?

Doncaster/Sheffield has been one of the UK's fastest growing airports, growing from c.690,000 in 2013 to over 1.4m in 2019. The airport has seen TUI Airways grow its existing base at the airport and Wizz Air announce a two aircraft base, showing intent for the airport to have its busiest year yet in 2022. However, one airline is missing from the airport - Ryanair. Could the Irish low cost carrier return to the Yorkshire airport?

Doncaster/Sheffield is currently the 6th busiest airport in the UK without a Ryanair presence - behind London Heathrow, London City, Belfast City, Southampton and Jersey. London Heathrow is a premium airport focusing predominately on hub and spoke routes and is not attractive to low cost carriers due to high fees and limited slots. The other 4 airports all have constrained runways, limiting or prohibiting the use of the Boeing 737 aircraft, the aircraft which Ryanair use. Therefore, of all the UK airports which Ryanair could next enter - Doncaster/Sheffield has one of the largest potentials.

Ryanair has previously served Doncaster/Sheffield in the 2000s and early 2010s with a range of routes including Faro, Girona and Tenerife. However, the airline had left the market - with TUI Airways and Wizz Air filling the void and adding a series of European and long haul routes. Additionally, Wizz Air are continuing to grow at Doncaster/Sheffield, with 25 routes currently on sale. This is a large presence and could be seen as a decisive factor to why Ryanair hasn't returned to the airport.

58 miles to the south of Doncaster/Sheffield is East Midlands Airport - which serves mostly the cities of Nottingham, Leicester and Derby, as well as the East Midlands region. Ryanair currently serve this airport and base several planes here, however, no flights are currently (at the time of writing) on sale at East Midlands in 2022. This has left unanswered questions if the airline plans to continue serving the airport or will leave - and if it does leave, what happens to those routes.

Most people would say those routes are most likely to go to Birmingham. Whilst Ryanair has been growing at Birmingham, recently announcing several new routes from the airport for Winter 2021, there could be an issue for Ryanair in consolidating the market here. The M1 motorway connects East Midlands Airport directly with Doncaster/Sheffield and London Luton. These two airports are Wizz's largest airports in the UK and offer over 100 routes between them, many of which overlap with Ryanair. If Ryanair consolidate at Birmingham, it could mean many passengers will alternatively use Doncaster/Sheffield or Luton, where Ryanair has no or a small presence - and not Birmingham. This could be a key reason why Doncaster/Sheffield would be an ideal place for Ryanair to expand.

Of Ryanair's existing East Midlands routes - 12 are already served at Doncaster/Sheffield by Wizz Air. However, this isn't the only opportunity - many routes that are served at East Midlands are not served by Wizz Air at Doncaster/Sheffield. These include Barcelona, Budapest, Rome as well as Wizz not having a presence in Ireland. For Ryanair to operate these city routes as well as the Irish market (of which Dublin was served until recently by Flybe until its collapse in 2020), would present an opportunity for Ryanair to compete at an airport where Wizz has been the dominant force for a number of years and also offer something different to consumers - a choice of destinations which differ from the existing offering and can complement the existing routes from nearby airports that Ryanair serve.

Doncaster/Sheffield has plans to grow and be a major player in the UK aviation market - but at present is strained by having just three airlines serving the airport. For Ryanair, this is an opportunity to grow the brand, increase their presence and take on existing players in a market where they have been growing. Both could benefit from such an arrangement, but Doncaster/Sheffield will be mindful not to aggravate its existing airlines and to ensure any new airline will have a unique place at the airport.

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