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Abandoned UK airport is ‘weeks away’ from being given go-ahead to reopen – with plans to restart flights by 2028
CONSTRUCTION work could begin on an abandoned UK airport in a matter of months - with flights set to resume by 2028.
Manston Airport, in Kent, first opened in 1916 and was used during World War I and World War II.
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However, the Royal Air Force left the airport in 1996, and the site officially closed in 2014 after it reported huge losses.
Since the airport closed nearly a decade ago, it has been used as a lorry park for drivers between the UK and France via Dover.
Before its closure, the site was used as a filming location for the James Bond film Die Another Day, featuring Pierce Brosnan.
And just last year, it was used to film the Hollywood blockbuster Empire of Light, starring Olivia Colman.
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Despite being closed for nearly ten years, the go-ahead for work to begin at the airport could be given "in just a matter of weeks", as reported by .
In 2022, the UK government granted approval for Manston Airport to be redeveloped.
The airport's owners, RiverOak Strategic Partners (RSP), then confirmed plans to invest £500million in developing the Manston Airport, for both air freight flights and passenger flights.
Because there have been few updates since the Royal Air Force left the site in the late 1990s, huge infrastructure changes are needed, including new terminals and updated runways.
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Manston Airport is expected to initially only reopen as a cargo airport in 2027 at the earliest.
While cargo flights are said to resume by 2028, no firm date has been set for the reopening of passenger flights.
In an article in the , County Councillor Karen Constantine said: "The current proposals don’t include any real detail on passenger flights, but anticipate 1.4 million people traveling by year 20 of operation.
"Allowing for the build-out, Manston won’t start operations until 'late 2027' so probably 2028, there’s no clear indication of when passenger flights can be expected."
While local newspaper suggests it could be another decade before passenger flights are introduced at the regional airport.
The new plans have been met with fierce opposition from local residents.
In the course of the next few weeks, members of the local community intend to apply for a legal challenge to block the .
Tony Freudmann, director of RiverOak Strategic Partners, and the public face of the airport’s revival, said: "You have to just stay confident in the strength of the case."
If an appeal isn't successfully lodged by Kent residents, and the site clears its final legal battle, work could begin on the airport from next year.
Earlier this year, Thanet Parkway Station opened to the public.
Over the course of the next few years, the new train station will connect the airport to passengers in London.
Trains from London St Pancras to Thanet Parkway Station take just 67 minutes.
And Manston Airport isn't the only UK airport hoping to reopen either.
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Doncaster Sheffield Airport, which closed in November 2022, could reopen thanks to a new multi-million-pound plan.
And Plymouth Airport hopes to reopen after being closed for more than a decade.
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