Freight flights resume at Kent airport, passenger flights soon?
17.09.05
Freight flights have resumed at Kent Airport (Manston), which had been out of use since its previous owners went into receivership in July. The airport was taken over by Infratil late last month, having bought it for £17m after the collapse of PlaneStation.
Kent airport had lost its Civil Aviation Authority licences - to carry passengers and freight - when PlaneStation went into receivership, but Infratil had the licences restored earlier this month. Infratil's chief executive, Steve Fitzgerald, said it was only a 'trickle' of cargo flights but was pleased to have any planes there. He added that he was due to meet with 15 airlines about the possibility of using Kent International for passenger flights again.
The first plane to fly into Manston was an Air Atlanta Boeing 747, which flew from Gatwick to have an engine changed, followed by freight planes landing to take a cargo of chemicals to Venezuela. Fitzgerald said he was encouraged by the start of freight operations but admitted the new operation was still in its early stages.
'Some of the customers who previously used the airport have indicated they are willing to come back, which is great. But we are very aware we are under the microscope and we need to deliver a great service to make sure they keep coming back'
'We are in discussions with a number of operators, but I am going to be really confident in saying we're close when my pen is poised over a contract, I'm not going to be speculating. We're working very hard but, as predicted, the passenger business will take a bit longer to secure.'
'I'll be going to an important conference in Copenhagen in about 10 days and meeting with around 15 scheduled airlines and putting the case to them that they should be interested in Kent.'
Fitzgerald said he was liaising with Thanet District Council and Kent County Council to come up with the best arguments to persuade companies to use the airport. He said he hoped to have around 600,000 to 700,000 passengers using Kent International annually within 3 or 4 years.
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