New station 'would help airport lift off'

A proposed Thanet Parkway station would give a fantastic boost to Manston airport but the terminal would still grow without it, its boss has said. Charles Buchanan, chief executive of Kent International Airport, said rail links between Ramsgate and London were already much better, with high-speed journey times down to 75 minutes.

A Parkway station close to the airport would cut this to around 64 minutes, although he would like to see it fall tobelow 60 minutes. But he insisted that the terminal would grow with or without the station.

"Manston Parkway would be fantastic but we can do it [attract more passengers] without it," he said

KIA owner Infratil has teamed up with Kent County Council, Thanet council, Network Rail and Southeastern to launch a £10 million bid to the Regional Growth Fund for better transport links in East Kent. A key element is a Parkway station that would improve access to and from the airport, signalling a potentially steep rise in passenger numbers. The station would be built south of the airport and west of Cliffsend village, with a fast shuttle bus link to the airport.

KCC Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Waste Nick Chard said:

"The Parkway Station would have an enormous, positive impact on Thanet and the surrounding area by creating new jobs and regenerating the area. For me, it's a question of when we do this, not if."

KCC leader Paul Carter made a Manston Parkway a key part of his "Growth without Gridlock" strategy unveiled last month. He said:

"A Thanet Parkway station would support economic growth in Thanet and accelerate development of Kent International Airport at Manston, while improved line speeds between Ashford and Ramsgate would benefit all local rail users. With an estimated 1,000 new jobs generated per million new air passengers, these improvements would help create 6,000 jobs by 2033."

kentonline 21st Jan 2011

Six million passengers for Kent airport

An international travel hub could be created at Kent International Airport at Manston. The 25-year vision from KIA bosses at the former Battle of Britain airfield includes a complex to rival Luton and Stanstead, with passenger intake increasing from 16,000 a year at today’s figures to six million in 2033.

It foresees a second passenger terminal, an extension to the A299 Thanet Way - providing a direct route into the airport for freight and passenger traffic, and a railway station to serve the airport, which aims to take passengers from London St Pancras to Manston in 80 minutes. Two spots have been earmarked for the parkway station - at Cliffsend and the Lord of the Manor roundabout, which is the favoured spot.

Passenger flights will return to Manston. Likely destinations are Faro, Malaga and Palma, as well as domestic services to Manchester, Glasgow, Dublin and Edinburgh. Another option is to bring in a budget airline to Manston and bosses say they have made "significant progress" in this area. Matt Clarke, KIA chief executive, said:

"The growth in the airport here will come as the other airports in the south east near their capacity. They’ll become less easy to use, and certainly the convenient, regional airports (like Manston) have the opportunity to soak up some of that extra growth as the demand for air travel increases. It will be such an improvement for the Thanet area, particlularly because the airport has the potential for huge, wide-scale growth and employment opportunities. The 2033 estimates suggest there’ll be 7,500 jobs created as a result of the aiport - 1,200 of them will be directly employed at Manston.

The commencement of the high speed domestic rail services between Ramsgate and London in 2009 will dramatically reduce travel times making the airport even more attractive to passengers and aircraft operators. The proposed expansion is supported by national, regional and local planning and economic development policy, and with the extensive facilities currently in place, the infrastructure required to support the projected growth can be accommodated on land currently owned by the airport. We already have the beginnings of a well-developed airport. Aircraft handling facilities exceed those found at many successful regional airports and we already host daily 747 aircraft movements during our peak season. KIA is substantial asset which will benefit the whole county and provide much-needed runway capacity for the south east."

The airport is also expected to see an increase in the level of freight it handles, rising from 33,000 tonnes at the moment to 100,000 tonnes by 2010, 150,000 tonnes by 2012, and more than 500,000 tonnes in 2033.

Following the announcement, Thanet North MP Roger Gale said he believes that London mayor Boris Johnson should "look very seriously at the potential of Manston as the site of a major regional airport". Mr Gale said:

"Manston is a service that could be swiftly developed and is waiting to happen. The pressure on Heathrow and Gatwick could be relieved very successfully if a serious effort was put behind the plans unveiled by Kent International Airport."

Mr Gale has campaigned for 20 years for the airport to be serviced by proper infrastructure and he praised the vision of a high-speed rail link to Manston. He said:

"The ideas suggested by Matt Clarke and the team at KIA are exciting for the whole of the region and Thanet in particular. However, this is only possible with the development of a parkway station, which would be a ‘halt’. It would need a large car park, two covered platforms and a swift link direct to the terminal."

kentonline 8th Oct 2008