August Update from Vulcan to the Sky Trust

We continue to have conversations with Peel L&P on the possibilities of Vulcan XH558 remaining at in Doncaster for the longer term. Alongside these discussions, the City of Doncaster Council are in negotiations with Peel on a potential lease of the former airport site.

In a recent joint statement from Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones, Mayor of South Yorkshire Oliver Coppard and Doncaster’s three MPs, they said, “The council has gone out to the market that specialises in this sector ranging from investors with the capital to invest in the airport to aviation experts who have the experience and technical knowledge of running an airport to find the support it needs if the lease is agreed. The council is continuing its negotiations with Peel in the meantime.”

The council have realised that the lease option isn’t guaranteed to succeed and have previously stated that they would be prepared to carry out a Compulsory Purchase Order for the site. On 5 May, they announced that the “City of Doncaster Council’s Cabinet today supported a request for £3.1m worth of funding towards the legal and programme costs associated with a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) if it is required following all other avenues, such as a sale or lease, are exhausted.”

There are a lot of discussions happening about the future of the site, many of which are commercially confidential and can’t be shared by Peel or the City of Doncaster Council.

We will continue to keep you updated with information that we are able to share.

Events

Already this year many hundreds of people have been able to visit XH558 and last week we were pleased to announce eight new sessions of Vulcan XH558 Tours. The new dates sold out within 40 minutes! The support for this iconic aircraft remains incredibly strong.

While we’ve been able to hold Vulcan XH558 Tours, we’re not yet able to release any dates for Vulcan XH558 Engine Ground-Runs. This is due to the airport operations ceasing and needing to overcome the challenges of operating a heritage aircraft in this new environment.

If you are one of the countless people waiting to visit XH558, please keep an eye out for emails announcing new dates. Our volunteer team work hard planning and running these events and when we’re able to, we will release more dates.