London's Seventh Airport Set To Open In Kent

Simple Flying

By Tom Boon

Published Jul 9, 2020

MANSTON, ENGLAND - JUNE 16: Rhino crates are loaded onto a specially enlisted DHL Boeing 757 ahead of leaving to be translocated to Tanzania at Manston airport on June 16, 2012 in Manston, England. The Aspinall Foundation along with the Tusk Trust and the George Adamson Trust are combining forces to stage a rare translocation of three captive born black rhino to Mkomazi National Park in Tanzania in order to rejuvenate numbers of the black rhino in the area. The three animals, Grumeti, Monduli and Zawadi are being airlifted in a dedicated DHL Boeing 757 from Manston Airport in Kent direct to Kilimanjaro Int Airport in Tanzania. The three black rhino have been donated by Damian Aspinall, Chairman of The Aspinall Foundation, from their breeding group at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent. The reintroduction of endangered species to the wild to assist breeding programmes is a major focus of The Aspinall Foundation. Prince William, Duke of Cambridge as Patron of Tusk Trust and a dedicated campaigner against poaching visited the rhinos at Port Lympne ahead of their translocation and today released a speech via the BBC highlighting his dedication to the fight against the illegal trade of ivory. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

London currently has six airports, each with an individual characteristic. However, a seventh could be about to join the mix as the United Kingdom government today gave consent for Manston Airport in Kent to be reopened, primarily as a cargo hub for London and the South East.

In 2018, London Heathrow Airport was the seventh busiest airport in the world and the most active in Europe. However, combining all six of London's Airports makes the city the busiest airport system by passenger traffic in the world. Indeed, between them, the airports handled some 180 million total passengers in 2019. Now a seventh airport could join the system.

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Marston Airport reopening

The Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, has been mentioned in our reporting a lot recently, with regards to the United Kingdom's 14-day quarantine. However, today Shapps is in the news for a different reason entirely. He has given development content for Manston Airport in Kent to be reopened.

The airport would have a dedicated air freight facility designed to handle at least 10,000 air cargo movements per year. However, it will also be permitted to offer passenger and VIP travel services, in addition to aircraft maintenance facilities.

Manston Airport, Reopening, Cargo — A British Airways Airbus A380 at Manston - the aircraft flew to the site for training and promotional purposes. Photo: Getty Images

£300 million investment

In its 2017 consultation report, RiverOak Strategic Partners, who are behind the project, said that they expect to invest £300 million ($378 million), in the airport during the first 20 years. However, when fully opened, the airport would have 23 aircraft stands. This would create over 4,200 jobs at the airport itself, with a further 26,000 created indirectly.

Thankfully, as much of the old infrastructure, such as the runway, taxiways, and apron still exist, developing the airport shouldn't be too difficult a task. The runway would undoubtedly need to be repainted, as it is currently on standby as a lorry park for the DFT.

According to the Save Manston Airport Association, the airport's reopening is currently targetted for 2023. Commenting on today's announcement, the association said,

"This go-ahead from the government now enables RSP to invest over £300m into rebuilding a state-of-the-art 21st century airport at Manston... This will create many much needed jobs for the Thanet and east Kent area, and will enable rejuvenation of the local economy."

Why did Manston close?

Almost exactly a year ago, Simple Flying reported that Manston Airport was looking to reopen. It closed six years ago in 2014. While KLM has been flying to the airport, it had not had much else in the way of passenger traffic. The airport was said to be losing around £10,000 per day towards the end of its existence. That's far less than airlines such as Lufthansa have been losing due to the current pandemic.

The last commercial flight left Manston on April 9th, 2014. The airport's runway closed just over a month later on May 15th. While it was open, British Airways had used the airport for training. Indeed, the airline even flew the largest passenger aircraft in the sky, the Airbus A380, into the airport before it entered service.

The airline now uses Chateauroux in France for such flights. Coincidentally, almost the entire Airbus A380 fleet is currently stored at the French Airport.

Are you excited that Manston is being given a second breath of life? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!