a day ago
Abandoned airport to reopen - and could soon offer Ryanair and easyJet flights
The airport has been closed for decades.
An abandoned airport has been reopened- and could soon be offering budget flights across Europe.
The facility is preparing to roar back to life after decades of being shut. The former Royal Air base - which played a crucial role in both World Wars - is earmarked to reopen in 2028.
Manston Airport in Kent will focus on cargo operations. But plans are afoot to introduce passenger services.
Tony Freudmann, main board director at controlling airport company RiverOak Strategic Partners, told the BBC that he is hopeful that passenger services will return and said they have plans to attract short-haul carriers to popular destinations in Europe.
The makeover of the airport is expected to cost £500m and will encompass new terminals and runways.
If the cargo side of the operation proves successful, passenger routes to countries such as the Netherlands, Spain, Cyprus and Malta could be introduced.
Mr Freudmann told Kent Online: 'Looking at the way the passenger market is going, we are confident we can persuade one or more low-cost carriers to base their planes here.
'It does not work for us if they fly in just once a day because that is not economic. If they base three or four planes at Manston, we will have rotations three or four times a day, as they have at Southend.
'That will cover our costs and bring passenger footfall through the terminal all day and every day. We will reinstate the twice daily KLM service to Amsterdam Schiphol that we had before and that will give business people in particular access to almost anywhere in the world.'
Survey work will be carried out this year and the next with the aim of finalising "the airport master plan – a process which we expect to conclude in early 2026"
During that time, a public consultation into possible flight routes will be launched.
RiverOak, which purchased the site for £14million, has previously said there are plans to start by operating five cargo flights per day.
Despite planners recommending refusal, the refurbishment plans for Manston Airport were given the go-ahead in 2023. The Planning Inspectorate had concerns that the airport wouldn't offer services "additional to, or different from" other airports, it would negatively impact the environment and increase pressure on local roads.
Since 2015, following its closure after years of financial losses, the airport has been utilised as a lorry park to alleviate temporary issues with cross-Channel traffic. The last scheduled flight from Manston departed for Amsterdam on 9 April 2014.
It was Kent's only large airport, with the county also hosting smaller aviation facilities such as Rochester Airport and Lydd Airport.
The developer behind the proposed project has boasted that it will create a massive 650 construction roles and a further 2,000 permanent positions once fully operational, according to their website. They also highlight: "The project requires no government funding and has attracted several international investors who are prepared to invest £800 million in this deprived part of the country."
Despite bypassing local authorities for planning permissions due to Manston's classification as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, complications have arisen. After earning the Development Consent Order from the Secretary of State for Transport in 2020 to reopen as a cargo hub, legal wrangles ensued, leading to its initial quashing, resubmission, and eventual regranting, as reported by the Kent Messenger.
