Manston Returns

[PiperOne]

https://www.flightglobal.com/air-transp ... 31.article

Flight Global reports that the UK Government has approved the re-opening of Manston Airport (formerly RAF Manston) to provide a major freight gateway into the south-east, and relieve pressure on other airports. With Heathrow and Gatwick very limited in capacity, and Stansted's freight facilities already well used, the additional capacity is much needed. The re-development is expected to cost up to £300m, and open in 2023.

The airport closed in 2014 and was expected to be developed for housing, so I guess the owners didn't manage to attract any interest from house builders, possibly not a surprise given its location on the northeast tip of Kent.

F

[Allen McL]

The question you might well ask is why is Prestwick not currently awash with freighters to help service the current thirst for air freight ? I'm not sure it's even seeing a modest increase, is it just too far away from the south east and with other airports further up the pecking order ? I'm also not sure if the current high demand is going to be enough to sustain or justify a £300 million spend at Manston ?

[Clive]

Manston is a squib. They should just accept that.

Mind you, because of their Brexit down there they are also building a massive lorry park for all the delayed road freight that will be trying to get to the open markets of the EU.

[PiperOne]

The question you might get ask is why is Prestwick not currently awash with freighters to help service the current thirst for air freight ? I'm not sure it's even seeing a modest increase, is it just too far away from the south east and with other airports further up the pecking order ? I'm also not sure if the current high demand is going to be enough to sustain or justify a £300 million spend at Manston ?

I think one of (many) Prestwick problems is its remoteness from the major UK markets. It has always been peripheral, and in the freight context a 360-degree market is very important, hence the success of places like East Midlands an Cologne. There have been attempts over the years to try and get one of the big operators to build a hub at PIK, but nothing has ever come of it. Although Manston is remote, and has less than 90-degree market, its proximity to the mass market of the south-east may make it attractive enough, given that LHR and LGW do not want freighters consuming valuable slots.

[baystate]

The question you might get ask is why is Prestwick not currently awash with freighters to help service the current thirst for air freight ? I'm not sure it's even seeing a modest increase, is it just too far away from the south east and with other airports further up the pecking order ? I'm also not sure if the current high demand is going to be enough to sustain or justify a £300 million spend at Manston ?

As cargo airports go, Prestwick is regrettably somewhat inaccessible as it doesn't have main motorway connectivity. Manston is an equally surprising choice, with similar access problems and is even further away from key manufacturing zones. I'd have thought East Mids a more relevant choice given near-direct access from the M1, greater proximity to core manufacturing areas and existing infrastructure.

Without trying to be overtly political, I would speculate there are two reasons:
- the proposal is probably self financed, so no requirement for public spending. MAG might have problems with capital right now and/or are already investing.
- Nearly all of Kent is held by Conservative MPs

[Allen McL]

Yeah that all sounds logical. One other question, what are the customs facilities like at PIK in terms of importing goods, small packets in particular ? I note from my regular forays onto ebay that anything I buy of Chinese origin, always goes through a customs clearance centre at Heathrow. As far as I know PIK doesn't handle any small packet courier cargo, the likes of which Fed Ex, UPS etc deliver. Would a lack of suitable customs clearing be a reason why PIK does not handle this kind of business ? When did Fed Ex last operate from there, 1990's ?

[Ekally1]

Pik has the facilities to do it if they rejig the cargo centre to how it was in the 90's by installing fed ex , UPS station facilities .But I am sure when they bulldoze the passenger terminal they can maybe perhaps build a dedicated small parcel centre .

[McG]

Yeah that all sounds logical. One other question, what are the customs facilities like at PIK in terms of importing goods, small packets in particular ? I note from my regular forays onto ebay that anything I buy of Chinese origin, always goes through a customs clearance centre at Heathrow. As far as I know PIK doesn't handle any small packet courier cargo, the likes of which Fed Ex, UPS etc deliver. Would a lack of suitable customs clearing be a reason why PIK does not handle this kind of business ? When did Fed Ex last operate from there, 1990's ?

Royal Mail have a customs clearance centre at Heathrow. Packages that are sent using foreign mail services that end up with Royal Mail for delivery usually use this centre.