Manston Airport faces closure

Manston Airport, branded as Kent’s International Airport, has recently announced its closure. The closure comes as a result of the airport having not made a profit as of late; it is thought to be losing up to £10,000 per day.

The airport was bought for £1, plus capital variances of £350,000, last October from Infratil by Ann Gloag, co-founder of the transport group, Stagecoach. The new ownership of the airport was anticipating improving cargo traffic to 400,000 tonnes per year.

A decision to postpone the twice-weekly flights of the Boeing 747 freighter travelling from Kenya between May and August influenced the airport’s closure. The decision came from one of Manston’s customers, Saudia Cargo. The airport was also planning to introduce low-cost airline Ryanair to their agenda, however the plans did not surface.

This decision will affect the employees of Manston, who have been informed of the forthcoming closure. A 45-day consultation regarding the closure is now taking place, having initially begun on March the 19th. Manston Airport has said: “Following a meeting with staff at Manston Airport on 19th March, we can confirm we have commenced a process of consultation over the possible orderly closure of the airport. No further comment will be made until the consultation period with staff has been concluded.”

With just 12 scheduled freight flights weekly, operated by companies such as Saudia, Allied Aviation and Cargolux, the airport is also seeing minimal passenger traffic through its doors as of late. Providing one of the longest runways in South East England, the Manston’s closeness to London made it very appealing to some freight operators.

Thanet District Council, the airport’s local governing body, has said the news is “potentially a devastating blow to the local economy.” However they also say they are willing to support any future the developments the airport may need: “We have worked with operators to ensure that the economic benefits to the district could be maximised. This is very disappointing news.”