Exactly, EMA is far too close to DSA for DSA to have any real advantage in the freight sector. Its runway is within a couple of metres pretty much exactly the same length too.It’s really not that long a runway. It’s mid-ranking in terms of length for civil runways in the UK. 747s landed and took off routinely at LBA on a much shorter runway for many years, so this idea that DSA has some advantage because of its runway is misplaced.
And that’s before we get to the fact that East Midlands, which is the regional air freight hub, is much better located in terms of major road and rail access. There isn’t any need for further freight provision currently.
The problem from a customer pov is that no major airlines want to make a major commitment to DSA as it offers them no advantage over more established airports in a similar catchment area (EMA, LBA and MAN). This isn’t a problem unique to DSA. Teeside and Humberside airports also struggle for exactly the same catchment area issues, although Teeside has a recent freight contract and also the RAF support airframes via Draken.
Humberside doesn’t struggle, I think it’s a bit of a misunderstanding that because it’s not a busy passenger airport that it’s struggling. It has lucrative offshore contracts, the Search and Rescue function and due to the fact it’s actually quite a large ports complex, plus the offshore oil and gas and renewables sector, and the petrochemical industries it provides a lot of high yielding passengers for KLM through their Amsterdam link which is why it still exists there and has done for 50 years now.
All Humberside needs passenger wise is a modest selection of leisure orientated destinations to make the terminal operations profitable and it would be a successful little airport.
Problem DSA had and will continue to have should it reopen, is that it’s a large airport where demand cannot meet capacity. When Peel ran it they had huge overheads as necessary for running a full service 24h operation. That will have to change, so if it does get off the ground I wouldn’t start expecting it being business as usual.