Manston Airport to resurrect as cargo hub

The U.K. government granted approval for Manston Airport (MSE) to develop as a cargo hub after years of delays. The new cargo hub will provide congestion relief to other London airports and add airfreight capacity in Southeast U.K., airport owner RiverOak Strategic Partners (RSP) said in an Aug. 18 release. [caption id="attachment_95702" align="alignright" width="462"] Photo/Air France[/caption] MSE hasn’t been operational since 2014 , when it closed for economic reasons. U.S.-based hedge fund RSP purchased it in July 2019 with plans to convert the airport into a cargo hub . Initially, RSP predicted a 2021 opening for the airport, given it were to receive the correct approvals from the U.K. government. After facing several delays in 2020 , the company received a Development Consent Order (DCO) from the U.K. Department of Transport to invest up to 500 million euros (US $588 million) into the airport. Construction will begin on the new facility in 2023, with a projected opening in 2025, according to RSP’s release. While stakeholders like the members of the British International Forwarders Association (BIFA) welcome the potential MSE can create as a cargo hub, there is skepticism that it will clear all legal hurdles and open by 2025, BIFA Director General Robert Keen told Air Cargo World. Airport features According to the DCO, the company plans to upgrade MSE’s singular runway and realign parallel taxiways, create stands for multiple aircraft, install new lighting on aprons and stands, and construct cargo facilities, a new air traffic control tower, airport fuel farm, and fire and rescue service station. Outside the airport itself, the group will develop over the Northern Grass area, invest in highway improvement, create an aircraft maintenance repair and overhaul facility, establish a flight training school and business facilities for aviation-related organizations, according to the government’s. 18 decision letter. The facility will also be built as “carbon net neutral from scratch,” according to RSP release. MSE will also test a hydrogen fuel cell system from HyPoint in aircraft upon opening, according to a July release from RSP. Economic implications Reopening the airport will create more than 23,000 jobs across East Kent by the airport's 20th year of operation, RSP claimed in its releases. “Manston Airport has an illustrious history as a Battle of Britain airfield and, under our management, will have a promising future as a vibrant hub for international airfreight — one which delivers economic prosperity and employment across Kent and protects a strategic aviation resource for the nation,” RSP Director Tony Freudmann said in a release. On a connectivity level, MSE has roadway connections to the national network, Keen said, but the roads are often congested due to problems at the port of Dover since Brexit. “On a good day, it would take at least two to two-and-a-half hours to drive a truck from Manston to Heathrow, for example, and closer to four to get to the English Midlands, which is where the U.K.'s logistics heartland of regional distribution centers are increasingly located,” Keen said. KLM utilized MSE for flights to Amsterdam (AMS) while the airport was operational in the 2010s, but the airline anticipates MSE will provide “very little added value” from a cargo perspective, a KLM spokesperson told Air Cargo World. RSP did not share which airlines and carriers it hopes to attract following MSE’s reopening, but Keen speculated the airport would work hard to attract all types of carriers, including parcel and integrators. MSE’s closest competition will be London Stansted Airport (STN), London’s cargo-only airport, moving around 258,000 tonnes of cargo annually, according to the airport’s operator MAG’s website. London airfreight congestion issues This summer, London Heathrow (LHR) implemented a passenger capacity cap to reduce congestion amid labor shortages. Forwarders have taken notice of the congestion at LHR and shifted volumes elsewhere , like Manchester (MAN). LHR has seen 2% month-over-month declines in cargo movements in June and July cargo throughput, according to airport traffic data. Gatwick (LGW) also limited passenger capacity but does not anticipate future caps past the summer season, Stewart Wingate, chief executive at Gatwick Airport, said in an Aug. 22 release. British Airways canceled 5,000 flights from its winter schedule as a result of staffing shortages and the LHR capacity cap. Join Air Cargo World for our next webinar, “Forward Thinking: Best practices for freight forwarder success,” on Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 11 a.m. ET. Click here for more information and to register.

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