Forgotten airport could soar again
TRANSPORT editor James Salmon warns there is a threat to exports because Heathrow airport is running at full capacity (Mail). Rather than a controversial third runway, one possible solution is to re-open Manston airport in Kent as a freight hub. Manston has one of the longest runways in Europe. It hosted Concorde, and British Airways used it for test landings and take-offs for the Boeing Dreamliner. The Royal Naval Air Service flew from Manston before the formation of the RAF in 1918, so it has a long and proud history. Re-opening Manston as a freight hub would ease pressure on Heathrow and Gatwick in a much shorter timescale than building a third runway at Heathrow, which isn’t likely to open before 2025, if it happens at all. Manston has road links to the M2 and the development of a rail link would be feasible. It makes sense to those of us living in the Thanet area that Manston should be re-opened. Its closure is shrouded in mystery after it was suddenly sold to developers who want to build housing and a business park. Residents and MPs have petitioned to have Manston re-opened and the matter is being reviewed by the Department of Transport.
CHRIS GRAY, Manston, Kent. THERE is a 10,000ft runway at the disused airfield at Alconbury, which is a few miles north of Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire and adjacent to the A1M, the A14 and M11. The main rail route to the north runs close by. Development of this site as a freightonly airfield would be a cheaper way of relieving pressure on Heathrow. PETER STURGEON, Mildenhall, Suffolk.