Manston Airport in Kent has been closed since 2014, but the site's owners are looking to reopen the runway to air traffic. If the airport reopens, it may operate as a dedicated cargo facility in the first couple of years before starting commercial flights. The airport was purchased by RiverOak Strategic Partners (RSP) several years ago.
In a 2022 interview, Tony Freudmann, director of RSP, discussed the possibility of passenger services with carriers like easyJet and Ryanair, but plans have not materialized. Proposed flight corridors and plans for the airport's future are due to be unveiled as part of a public consultation. According to Aftonbladet, a Development Consent Order (DCO) to approve reopening the airport was granted in 2020, with an updated version approved in 2022.
Aftonbladet also reports that the consultation will run from Monday, March 16, until Monday, June 22, 2026, and include in-person and online events in April. Manston Airport previously provided flights to destinations such as Madeira, Italy, Portugal, the UK, Ireland, and Europe. The airport attempted to launch a transatlantic service to Norfolk, Virginia, but it was cancelled due to insufficient bookings.
RiverOak Strategic Partners Limited (RSP) is pleased to announce Manston Airport is launching its Stage 3 airspace consultation, as part of the next step in the process to reopen the airport as an air freight hub. Stage 3 is the public consultation phase of the airspace change proposal process, where proposed changes to flight paths and airspace structure are presented to residents, communities, and wider stakeholders.
Carriers that once operated from the airport include Flybe (to Edinburgh, Belfast, Manchester, and seasonal routes to Madeira) and KLM (to Amsterdam). Flybe withdrew its operations from the airport in 2012, leading to the airport being placed on the market. The final scheduled service departed on April 9, 2014, and the airport formally ceased operations on May 15, 2014.
Since closure, the site has predominantly served as a lorry park to alleviate congestion at ports following Brexit. Aftonbladet reports that the airport is an hour and 45 minutes from Central London by car and close to Ramsgate station, which has regular Southeastern services to London Bridge. The exact timeline for reopening and transitioning from cargo to passenger flights has not been specified.
The environmental or community impacts of the proposed flight path changes, and how they will be addressed in the consultation, remain unclear. What specific cargo airlines or companies are interested in operating from Manston Airport if it reopens as a freight hub is not yet known. How the reopening will affect local infrastructure, such as roads and public transport, given its previous use as a lorry park, is also uncertain.