Manston Airport
Kent International Airport Manston Airport | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Infratil | ||||||||||
| Operator | Infratil Airports Europe | ||||||||||
| Location | Kent | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 178 ft / 54 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 51°20′32″N 001°20′46″E / 51.34222°N 1.34611°E | ||||||||||
| Website | www.kentinternationalairport-manston.com | ||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2007) | |||||||||||
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Kent International Airport (IATA: MSE, ICAO: EGMH) is an airport located 11 NM (20 km; 13 mi) northeast of Canterbury, Kent, England. It was formerly called RAF Manston (a Royal Air Force airfield) – also, previously known as London Manston Airport[3].
Kent International Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P880) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (Infratil Kent Facilities Limited).[4]
History
At the outset of the Great War, the Isle of Thanet was equipped with a small and precarious landing strip for aircraft at St Mildreds Bay, Westgate, on top of the chalk cliffs, at the foot of which was a promenade which had been used for seaplane operations.
The landing grounds atop the cliff soon became the scene of several accidents, with at least one plane seen to fail to stop before the end of the cliffs and tumble into the sea which, fortunately for the pilot, had been on its inward tide.
In the winter of 1915-1916 these early aircraft first began to use the open farmlands at Manston as a site for emergency landings. Thus was soon established the Admiralty Aerodrome at Manston. It was not long after this that the training school, set up originally to instruct pilots in the use of the new Handley Page bombers, was established, and so by the close of 1916 there were already two distinct units stationed at Manston, the Operational War Flight Command and the Handley Page Training School.
Its location near the Kent coast gave Manston some advantages over the other previously established aerodromes and regular additions in men and machinery were soon made, particularly, in these early days, from Detling. By 1917 the Royal Flying Corps was well established and taking an active part in the defence of England.
In the Second World War, after an eventful Battle of Britain during which Manston was heavily bombed, Barnes Wallis used the base to test his bouncing bomb on the coast at nearby Reculver prior to the Dambusters raid.[5]
Hawker Typhoon and Meteor squadrons were both based at Manston during the war. Being close to the front-line and having a long and broad runway the airfield became something of a magnet for badly damaged aeroplanes that had suffered from ground fire, collisions, or air attack but retained a degree of airworthiness. The airfield became something of a "graveyard" for heavy bombers and no doubt the less-damaged portions of aircraft landing or otherwise arriving here sometimes provided spare parts for other allied aircraft in need of repair. The museums on site displays some startling aerial views dating from this era and the post-war years.
During the Cold War of the 1950s the United States Air Force used Manston as a Strategic Air Command base for its fighter and fighter-bomber units.
The USAF withdrew from Manston in 1960 and the airfield became a joint civilian and RAF airport and was thence employed for occasional package tour and cargo flights, alongside its continuing role as an RAF base. The Air Cadets used the northern side of the airfield as a gliding site, and an Air Experience Flight flying De Havilland Chipmunks was based there. Thanks to its broad long runway, (built during the Second World War, along with Woodbridge's, to allow returning damaged bombers a longer than usual runway to land on) Manston was used as a diversionary airfield for emergency military and civilian landings.
From 1989 Manston became styled as Kent International Airport, and a new terminal was officially opened that year by the Duchess of York.
Post-1990
Manston is now a wholly commercial airport. In 1998 Thanet District Council produced the Isle of Thanet local plan which recognised the economic development potential of abandoned parts of the old military airfield, particularly on its north western edge.
After this plan was published, the Ministry of Defence announced plans to sell off RAF Manston. After a ruling by the British Labour Government's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, instructing government departments to generate money by the sale of surplus assets, following the example of the Thatcher government, the Ministry of Defence sold the site.
Following the RAF's departure local MP, Dr. Stephen Ladyman opposed the decision to sell the base to a property developer (Wiggins Group PLC). The ministry sold the site at the end of March, 1999 for the sum of £4.75m. The airfield comprises 700 acres (2.8 km2).
Kent International Airport was initially a 38 acres (150,000 m2) civilian area within the former RAF Manston including the existing terminal building and an apron where passengers embark and the largest of freighters may be loaded. The runway however, is not included within this enclave. In 1988 the owners of Kent International Airport negotiated a 125 year legal agreement with the RAF obliging the Air Force to maintain the runway, the air traffic control and to provide ongoing emergency services. The cost of providing runway maintenance, air traffic control and Fire and Rescue services had been estimated at up to £3,000,000 per annum by the MoD.
The RAF faced a compensation claim of £50-100 million if they then closed the base and terminating their earlier agreement with Kent International Airport. The Wiggins Group therefore purchased the Kent International Airport and inherited the legal agreement obliging the RAF to continue maintenance of the airfield. Within six months the RAF announced that they were leaving the airfield and Wiggins as the successful bidders then purchased the remainder of the airfield.
Picturesque private aircraft based here include a Boeing Stearman and an Iskra jet trainer once serving the Yugoslav Air Force. Two museums can be found on the northern edge of the airfield providing a glimpse of the aerodrome's military heritage.
Rapid development began in 2004 in an attempt to make it a budget airline hub and an Irish airline EUjet formed in 2002 began scheduled flights in September 2004 to destinations such as Manchester, Edinburgh and Dublin with a small fleet of Fokker 100 airliners. Car parking areas were built and a direct coach service from Bluewater via Chatham was instituted to support this enterprise, which follows the low fare, no-frills, web-marketing style pioneered by Ryanair in the UK. On 26 July 2005 all EUjet operations were suspended along with all non-freight operations at the airport due to financial difficulties with the airport and airline's owner PlaneStation. Their business plan was ambitious and their bankers had lost patience, causing both businesses to fail and leading to many passengers being stranded abroad. Infratil, a Wellington, New Zealand based company subsequently bought the airport interest from the administrators and, having experience of managing an airport in Scotland, Prestwick, might pursue a more measured development programme, perhaps winning back some freight operations reportedly deterred by Planestation.
Constraints
Manston has only one runway with its glidepath crossing Ramsgate, a Victorian seaside resort of some 40,000 residents. The town is situated about 1 km (0.62 mi) from the eastern end of the runway. To one side of the runway lies the village of Cliffsend where housing stands within 200 m (660 ft) of the runway. Manston village stands to the north east of the passenger terminal.
A 1993 report from the Department of Trade and Industry examined runway capacity in South East England and found that Manston was unsuitable for development as a major airport considering this proximity to the town. However the sale went against the local council's plan at a loss of about £65,000,000.
In July 1998 the government issued a White Paper outlining its intention to develop an 'integrated transport strategy'.
The RAF Manston History Museum is still on the site, as is the Spitfire and Hurricane memorial.
The airport and runway were also used for the making of the James Bond movie Die Another Day the airport was transformed into a North Korean airbase
Recent news
On 26 July 2005 London Manston Airport Plc went into liquidation. Operations were temporarily suspended, along with Manston's air traffic zone and radar services, until a new buyer could be signed-up. A sale of Manston to Infratil (owner of Glasgow Prestwick Airport) was completed on 26 August 2005.[6]
One year later, in July 2006, a charter route between Manston, and Norfolk, Virginia was announced and was scheduled to begin service in 2007 but has since been cancelled due to low bookings. It was to be operated by tour operator Cosmos, in conjunction with Monarch Airlines.
Luxembourg based Cargolux started flying for Ghana Airways from Accra to Kent International on 17 April 2007.
Charter flights were operated from Manston by Seguro Travel Limited, trading as "Kent Escapes". The 2007 Kent Escapes flights were operated by Sky Wings using an McDonnell Douglas MD-80 until August. Seguro then swapped operators due to problems. From 16 August the flights were taken over by bmi for a period. At the end of the season flights were operated by Futura, a Spanish based airline using the Boeing 737.[7] Futura Airlines ceased trading during September 2008 leading to Seguro Travel in turn ceasing to trade on 10 September 2008.[8]
Cargo airline DAS Air Cargo had a maintenance hangar at the airport that was bought by Continental Aviation Services in November 2007. The facility was, and remains, used for maintenance on their own aircraft as well as those of World Airways, Omni Air International, Gemini Air Cargo and Avient Aviation.
There are some reports of expanding the runway to handle heavy loaded 747-400s and maybe the A380F.[citation needed]
Scheduled Airlines & Destinations
- flybe (Jersey [seasonal])
Charter Airlines & Destinations
See also
- List of RAF stations
- United States Air Forces in Europe
- United States Air Force in the United Kingdom
References
- ^ Manston - EGMH
- ^ UK Airport Statistics: 2007 - annual
- ^ London Manston Airport shown on an Ordnance Survey map from 2005
- ^ Civil Aviation Authority Aerodrome Ordinary Licences
- ^ Aircraft of World War II
- ^ Manston Airport Sold to Infratil
- ^ Holiday company terminates Sky Wings contract
- ^ Statement from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)