Manston, elections, and money

Dennis Franklin is a regular contributor to the IoT Gazette letters page, and sent us this letter to publish in full, just in case the Gazette doesn't...

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I know what follows is lengthy, but I am trying to make some important points about Manston, forthcoming elections, and the use of public money. Also, I feel there have been more pro Manston letters published than against, so I hope space can be found for the following:

Astute readers of the Thanet Gazette letters page will realise I am opposed to Manston airport for 2 reasons, one is I am against social injustice. There are 60,000 households in Thanet, and perhaps 10,000 including some who are not in Thanet, who are effected by low flying aircraft creating air and noise pollution, asthma, pulmonary disease, stress and lower life expectancy.

I do not understand why those in favour of the airport, most of whom are not affected this way, think they can bully those who are, into sacrificing their quality of life, and devaluation of their homes, for what? Most of any new jobs will go to outside experts, and its misguided to think it will increase tourism, it won't, not if 50 to 100 aircraft a day fly low over Ramsgate Harbour, which an economist in the Thanet Gazette predicted it will be needed to make Manston viable!

My second objection is that I do not agree public funds i.e. Income and Council Tax money should be used to subsidise private enterprise! I have been in correspondence with UKIP KCC Councillor Roger Latchford on this, because KCC UKIP Councillor Trevor Shonk tried to conceal from me that there was a proposal to build another railway station 1 mile from one at Minster, and one and a half miles from Ramsgate station, purely for the use of Ann Gloag the owner of Manston Airport, at a cost to the public of £10.5 million! I suggested there are more worthy ways to spend £10.5 million of our money, like redeveloping the disused gas works site in Ramsgate for hundreds of social/affordable homes for a start!

Shamefully more or less every local politician from Laura Sandys to Green (sic) Party councillor Ian Driver, want to use public money to subsidise Manston, why? Because they are electioneering for the forthcoming elections, that’s why! Don't be duped, they intend to cynically abandon and sell out the people who live under the flight paths, who will have their lives ruined by low flying aircraft. And would those people involved with Why Not Manston, please note, every attempt to make Manston profitable has failed, even when EU Jet tried bussing people in from Medway!

I agree with Mike Pearce in his article in last week’s Thanet Gazette, it will stick in the craw of those people who lost their jobs due to KCC cut backs, which also reduced funding for road repairs, schools, libraries, social services for young and old etc, only instead to see millions of pounds of public money being poured into private pockets to try and shore up this obsolete airport! If UKIP have their way and bully KCC into coming up with £200 millions of tax payers money to subsidise Manston airport, just to get elected, it will be a travesty!

Finally, will people stop banging on about Manston's glorious military past? The Cold War ended 25 years ago, and I don't remember seeing a single National Serviceman who didn't loathe every wasted minute of it!

Dennis Franklin, Ramsgate

Manston closure: press coverage and video clips

Budget Day 2014 - a good day to bury bad news.

Ann Gloag's timing means that the clock stops ticking for Manston as an airport on 10th May

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Manston

Manston's website:

View fullsize

Manston's official press statement:

“Following a meeting with staff at Manston Airport in Kent today, Wednesday 19th March, we can confirm we have commenced a process of consultation over the possible orderly closure of the airport. No further comment will be made until the consultation period with staff has been concluded.”

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BBC South East Today

Manston Reaction - Wednesday 19th March 2014

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South Thanet MP Laura Sandys

Said she will be fighting to keep the airport alive, following news of its possible closure. Her statement follows the announcement that staff were called to a meeting this morning where it was announced a 45 day consultation would take place with them. Ms Sandys said:

Laura Sandys

"This is a great shock to the area and very concerning for the 150 staff. This is a consultation and we now need to ensure that we put a very strong case forward to keep the airport alive. We also need to understand a lot more about what they plan to do with the airport if it was to close.

My thoughts are with the staff who are entering a really unsure period and I know that I and Roger are happy to meet any of the staff at our surgeries. We will be talking to the Minister as soon as possible to ensure that there is ministerial input into this consultation as soon as possible."

IoT Gazette 19 Mar 2014

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An unnamed Manston employee

Manston airport closure staff 'consultation'

“We were told this morning, it came as a huge shock. We knew there was going to be some kind of announcement but we thought it would be positive. They said they had been trying to get Ryanair here but the deal had fallen through.

It’s a very sad day for everyone here, we’re devastated. It’s not just a job, once you work at an airport you don’t want to work anywhere else. We have been told that after 45 days it will be closing but up until then it is business as usual but it’s hard to put your heart into it at the moment.”

IoT Gazette 19th Mar 2014

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KLM

KLM says it will wait until the employee consultation at Manston Airport is complete before issuing a formal statement. The Dutch airline, which runs a twice-daily flight from Manston to Amsterdam, has operated out of the airport since April last year. A spokesperson for KLM said:

"We have no statement at the moment - we are going to wait for the consultation to take place as the situation is currently not in our hands."

Customers are still able to book flights from Manston to Amsterdam via the KLM website.

IoT Gazette 19th Mar 2014

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Clive Hart

Thanet District Council leader Cllr Clive Hart said:

"This is potentially a devastating blow to the local economy with the potential loss of direct and indirect employment in Thanet. The council has been clear that it has supported the future development of the airport.

We have worked with operators to ensure that the economic benefits to the district could be maximised including the council's direct port of entry service and therefore this is very disappointing news."

Kent Online, 19th Mar 2014

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Bob Bayford

Cllr Bob Bayford, opposition Conservative leader on Thanet council, said:

"I feel very disappointed. I cannot help feeling that given there is so much pressure on the south east for more runways that it could have had a future. It is a pretty short period in which the new owners have come to the conclusion that it does not have a future."

Kent Online, 19th Mar 2014

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The Guardian

Manston airport closure plans put scores of jobs at risk

Staff at Kent airport told 45-day consultation period initiated following daily losses of £10,000 under new owner. Up to 150 jobs have been placed under threat following the announcement that a regional airport could close.

The mostly part-time staff at Manston airport in Kent were told that a 45-day consultation period had begun over its possible closure. It is understood the airport has been suffering losses of £10,000 a day under its new owner, making its long-term future unsustainable. An airport spokesman said:

"Following a meeting with staff at Manston airport in Kent today, Wednesday March 19, we can confirm we have commenced a process of consultation over the possible orderly closure of the airport. No further comment will be made until the consultation period with staff has been concluded."

Scottish businesswoman Ann Gloag, who co-founded the Stagecoach Group, bought Manston airport for £1 last year. She drafted in a team of experts, including Alastair Welch, to help revive its fortunes and various options were explored. These included holding discussions with low-cost airline Ryanair about possibly bringing in new routes to Manston.

But the plans were hit late last year when Ryanair issued its second profits warning in as many months, as it warned it would be hammered by downward pressure on fares. The new owners at Manston had also held out hopes of pursuing opportunities with cargo flights, but they also failed to materialise. The airport will continue to run as normal during the consultation period.

The Guardian 19th Mar 2014

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Paul Francis

Grounded: is it the end for Manston airport?

When Manston Airport was sold for £1 last year, new owner Ann Cloag was optimistic about its prospects. In a statement issued at the time, she said:

"Whilst this is a loss making airport, I hope that with the co-operation of our neighbours and the wider community of Kent, the airport partners and staff, we can capitalise on the opportunities available to give Kent the best chance possible of having a successful and vibrant airport."

Just three months on comes an announcement that the airport is consulting on closure.

It is undeniably a big shock and appeared to come out of nowhere. Certainly, neither KCC or Thanet appeared to have had any prior notice. The 150 staff affected were told at a meeting this morning and were understandably dismayed. Thanet has an unenviable reputation as an economic blackspot and jobs are hard to come by.

Various factors contributed to the decision.

The most significant was that talks with Ryanair owner Michael O'Leary about bringing some routes to Manston had come to an end after the operator signalled it had its own financial difficulties. No airport can be sustained on a long-term basis without using its capacity and it is understood that even with the presence of KLM and regular flights to Schipol, it was haemorrhaging money on a daily basis. There would have been no room for sentiment by the consultants commissioned to investigate whether it had a future.

Add in the uncertainty about what role Manston might have had in the aftermath of the Davies Commission and the ongoing issue about the lack of good road connections and its peninsula location and Manston has been battling the odds for a long time.

And it is worth noting that Manston has also had to compete against the increasingly successful Southend Airport, which has become one of the fastest-growing airports in the UK.

This is not the first time Manston has, in its chequered history, faced the threat of closure. But you sense that this time, it is highly unlikely to survive. Given the hard-headed conclusions of the turnaround team brought in to assess its prospects, it is almost inconceivable that someone else could come in to give it a go.

The fact that the airport is consulting staff over closure - rather than putting it on the market - tells its own story. The airport insists that it is not ruling out that possibility but there is already speculation that developers are circling with an interest in developing it for houses, rather than for planes.

This time, it does feel like it is the end for Manston - at least as an airport.

Kent Online's political editor Paul Francis, 19th Mar 2014

Manston sold for one pound

Infratil, the Wellington-based infrastructure investor, has agreed to sell Manston Airport in the UK for 350,000 British pounds to Stagecoach Group co-founder Ann Gloag and her brother Brian Souter.

Ann Gloag

Infratil agreed to sell the airport for 1 pound plus adjustment for working capital variances and cash injected by Infratil, the company said in a statement.

The latest sale comes after Infratil last week said it was in talks to sell its Glasgow Prestwick Airport to the Scottish government, allowing the infrastructure investor to exit the unprofitable overseas airports it earmarked for sale in March last year. Infratil expects to write down the value of the assets in its books by about 11 million pounds to zero in its earnings for the six months to September 30, the company said today.

Infratil chief executive Marko Bogoievski said in the statement:

"From Infratil's perspective, while Manston was a very small part of the company's overall asset base, this sale will result in a more focused portfolio and improve our future cash flow position,"

The announcement comes a day after news that David Newman, a director of Infratil for almost two decades and chairman for the past nine years, had died in Wellington.

Shares in Infratil last traded at $2.535, having gained 12 per cent this year. The stock is rated a 'buy' according to the consensus of analysts polled by Reuters.

NZ Herald 14th Oct 2013

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Infratil Limited has agreed to sell Manston Airport to Lothian Shelf (710) Limited, an entity wholly owned by Ann Gloag, for cash consideration of £1 plus an adjustment for working capital variances and cash injected by Infratil between 14 October 2013 and transaction completion (which is expected to be around GBP350,000).

Ann Gloag is an experienced investor who co-founded Stagecoach Group, the UK-listed public transport operator, along with her brother, Brian Souter.

Marko Bogoievski, Chief Executive of Infratil said:

"Infratil Limited is very pleased to have found an acquiror with a vision for Manston Airport's future development. From Infratil's perspective, while Manston was a very small part of the company's overall asset base, this sale will result in a more focused portfolio and improve our future cash flow position"

Ann Gloag said: 

"I am delighted to have purchased Manston Airport from Infratil as I believe there is real potential for growth that has not been fully captured. Having worked in the transport industry for over 30 years, I believe I am very well placed to help maximise opportunities for both freight and passengers at Manston."

Following the sale of this asset and the proposed sale of Glasgow Prestwick Airport to the Scottish Government announced last week, Infratil expects to impair these assets by approximately GBP11 million in its half year financial statements to 30 September 2013.

Completion and settlement of the Manston Airport sale will occur on 29 November 2013 (or earlier, at the purchaser's request), and is only conditional on matters within Infratil's control.

Kevin Baker
Chief Financial Officer

4-traders.com  14th Oct 2013