Yet another daft airport plan

The chaos at London airports in the run-up to Christmas has proven that the capital needs a modern hub, according to a group of former aviation industry executives who are attempting to resurrect a plan for an airport at Cliffe, in north Kent. An independent aviation advisory group, led by John Olsen, former commercial director of Cathay Pacific and ex-head of the failed airline Dan-Air, is urging the government to look again at proposals for a £14bn three-runway, 24-hour-a-day hub airport on the Hoo peninsula.

They claim recent infrastructure developments - such as the high-speed Channel tunnel rail link from St Pancras through north Kent and the development of London Gateway, the deep-sea container port and Europe's largest logistics park being built just across the Thames - now make a more compelling case for the airport. In addition, the scheme would provide a catalyst to unlock the stalled Thames Gateway regeneration project, bringing thousands of jobs to deprived areas in north Kent and south Essex.

The Cliffe airport plan is a scheme that refuses to die. Identified as the best potential site for a new airport by the Labour government in 2002, the proposal was abandoned in December 2003 on the grounds that the costs of the coastal site were too high and the airport would not be well used. The decision was welcomed by local residents in the village of Cliffe and beyond in the Medway area as well as by environmental campaigners, who claimed the salt marshes of the Hoo peninsula were an important bird habitat.

But Mr Olsen's group, which has spent three years researching the project, believes those arguments are no longer valid and that the project would be far more practical and cheaper than London mayor Boris Johnson's idea of an island airport in the Thames estuary. Mr Olsen told the Financial Times:

"I think Boris is right that we need a new airport in the UK, but he's got the wrong location. This is not just a way of drastically improving aviation in the UK. It's part of a much bigger plan of regeneration in the Thames Gateway area. And with the high-speed rail link, it's already better connected than Heathrow. This is all about using what we've got already."

Daniel Moylan, deputy chairman of Transport for London who is working on a review of airport capacity for the mayor, recently called on the government to include a "new hub airport" serving London and the south-east in its new national aviation policy. But gaining traction with a government that has opposed airport expansion for a scheme with the political baggage of the Cliffe proposal will be difficult.

Already local MPs, council leaders and environmental campaigners have lined up to attack the plan. Nevertheless, Mr Olsen said the almost uninhabited salt marshes of the Hoo peninsula had so many advantages that the site could not be ignored:

"It's the best piece of undeveloped land anywhere near any major city in Europe"

The group claims the bird populations on the peninsula's west and north are "meagre" and that the risk of bird strike is lower than at other locations. The group also believes the plan is economically viable because the government already owns much of the land; it would be far cheaper than an island scheme, which has attracted estimates of £40bn; and one of the sovereign wealth funds from the Gulf would be keen to fund the scheme on a lease of up to 100 years. Mr Olsen denied any financial involvement in the plan:

"We have not been paid a penny and we have not asked anyone to pay us."

Clipping: FT.com Bob Sherwood, London and South-East Correspondent, 19:02, Monday 27 December 2010

Manston "overlooked" by airport planners

Airport planners have been accused of using out of date facts to ground Manston's chances of easing the looming capacity crisis. They dismissed Thanet's aviation jewel in a couple of paragraphs in the SERAS report that included a controversial airport at Cliffe marshes in a list of options.

But Wiggins Group has told the Government that its advisers overlooked the huge potential of Manston. In its official response to an inquiry into the future development of air transport, Wiggins said the consultants only visited the airport in 1999. Wiggins claimed they took no account of the expert study by Arthur D Little in 2001 suggesting that Manston had the potential to grow into a "sizeable" airport.

Manston, already strong in cargo, expects passenger numbers to grow to between four and six million over the next 10 years. This could rise to 15 million by 2020, the study said. Paul Tipple, Wiggins' head of strategy and development, dismissed SERAS claims that Manston was too remote to attract sizeable volumes of traffic. He said this ignored the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and the "very real prospect" of domestic services reducing journey times between London and East Kent to "just under the hour" by 2007. The report also "betrays an apparent ignorance of the relatively low cost of the necessary rail upgrades and improvements," he added.

Manston had fast road links and quick road access to Ramsgate, Dover and the Channel Tunnel terminal, reinforcing the airport's "attractiveness as a gateway to Europe". He also rejected claims that airport development was constrained by noise impact on Ramsgate.

"That aircraft noise is and will remain an important issue for any airport's operation is a reality that has somehow to be managed to the point that it is acceptable in relation to the wider benefits that an airport brings to the local and regional economies. At Manston, the airport and its Consultative Committee continue to work closely in identifying new noise management techniques (for example, noise abatement routes) that minimise the impact of aircraft noise over nearby villages and towns, including Ramsgate."

Extending the runway would also reduce noise levels, he said. Mr Tipple told ministers that its plans had the "unanimous" support of local villages and councils, as well as the East Kent Triangle Area Strategic Partnership. He ended his submission by saying that events had moved on since 1999 when the airport was:

"... in its infancy and having to manage on the basis of an outdated infrastructure. Whilst the potential that Manston currently has could not offer the solution to the capacity crisis in the South East, the airport already has the ability to make a major contribution to easing congestion at the main South East airports."

Manston already handles 40,000 tonnes of air freight a year, has the capacity to handle 200,000 tonnes, and the potential to boost that to 400,000 tonnes by 2020. Thanet council has already said it expects the airport to handle 250,000 tonnes of air freight by 2010. Trevor Herron, Thanet council director of planning, agreed that experts had dismissed Manston too lightly.

“They hadn’t really given Manston the attention it should have had. We were relegated to one of the minor airports and minor considerations.”

He said Manston had the sixth longest runway in the country and, railways apart, a good transport infrastructure. It was also outside the problem areas for air traffic control. While experts envisaged a maximum of about three million passengers by 2030, the council thought a more realistic figure was between six and 10 million. Manston could never become a fourth London airport, Mr Herron said, but it could contribute to taking the pressure off London and the need for a new hub.

“We’re very keen that Manston should play an important role in the future of air passenger movements in the London area. That’s not just optimism. We really do think it has the potential to do it.”

kentonline 14th Jan 2003

Manston not told of rival airport

Airport chiefs insist that plans for Manston will not be deflected by speculation about a new airport on north Kent marshland. Bosses at Wiggins Group, owners of London Manston, were surprised when they learned about the leaked proposal to develop Cliffe marshes, a unique wildlife site.

According to company sources, they were not consulted about the possibility of a rival terminal just 30 miles away. They also say that experts advising the government about possible sites to cope with the looming capacity crisis spent little time at Manston. In a preliminary report, Cliffe was mentioned as an option alongside possible extra runways at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.

Wiggins has invested heavily in new navigation aids, is investing £7 million in a new apron and taxiways and has extensive plans for further development, including a new terminal. Before the shock revelations about Cliffe, the group said it hoped to create more than 6,000 jobs and attract 10 million passengers through the terminal over the next 15 years.

Airport director Alastair Robertson condemned the Cliffe proposal. He said:

"We see absolutely no point going through the considerable time, trouble and expansion of building a very speculative airport in an area of environmental sensitivity."

It was ludicrous to consider damaging a wildlife site "when you've got a perfectly viable alternative at Manston which is already operating".

kentonline 12th Mar 2002

Storm gathers over airport leak

Council chiefs are demanding urgent talks with ministers after reports that the Government is considering building a new airport for London on the north Kent marshes near Cliffe. According to a report in the Financial Times, Transport Secretary Stephen Byers is weighing up the idea of an airport at Cliffe and the Isle of Grain to cope with additional air traffic over the next 20 years.

The leaders of both Medway and Kent County Council are furious at the prospect. KCC council leader Cllr Sandy Bruce-Lockhart said the reports would inevitably cast a shadow over the development of Manston airport in Thanet and could potentially blight east Kent. He warned that the KCC would resist any plan and argued it was an unrealistic dream. In a letter to Transport Minister John Spellar he complains that Kent should have been told of the plans. It says:

"We place the highest priority on the regeneration of east Kent for which the development of London Manston is the key. Manston . . . is now being taken forward successfully by the private sector both for international freight and for the largest international passenger airplanes. The leak with no supporting evidence about an airport at Cliffe will cause serious blight to the development of Manston, which is now at a critical stage."

The Conservative leader of Medway Council Cllr Rodney Chambers said:

"If there is a need for extra capacity that cannot be accommodated with existing airports serving London there is already a site in Kent. If improvements were made in rail and road communications between London and Manston, especially around Thanet, that would be the appropriate place."

Thanet South MP Dr Steve Ladyman, whose constituency includes Manston, said the report was "poppycock" and he did not expect the plan would come to fruition. The Government is expected to issue a consultation paper in May.

kentonline 8th Mar 2002