Manston Airport

Manston Airport, formerly, was branded as Manston, Kent International Airport and was located in the parish of Minster and partly adjacent to the village of Manston in the District of Thanet in Kent, England, 11NM north-east of Canterbury. Formerly the site of RAF Manston, it was briefly known as "London Manston Airport". The single runway was located about from the coastline at 178ft above sea level.At 2748m long, Manston had the eleventh longest civilian runway in the United Kingdom (after Heathrow (2), Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Stansted, East Midlands, Doncaster, Prestwick and Belfast International), Capable of handling some of the larger long-haul aircraft, but not capable of accommodating the largest passenger or freight types, at their maximum takeoff weights, as they require a longer runway than the 2748m that was available at Manston. Originally built with three "lanes" during the war to handle emergencies, the runway is amongst the widest in Europe.It was announced on 6 May 2014 that the airport would close. This occurred on 15 May 2014 with the loss of 144 jobs. When closure was announced campaign group Save Manston Airport was formed by a local campaigner, along with other groups such as Supporters of Manston Airport, Manston Works and Save Manston Airport Association as well as the existing 'Why Not Manston' group. The groups petitioned the local council to issue a compulsory purchase order (CPO) to do so, in conjunction with a private indemnity partner. A US-based investment group, RiverOak, put forward a plan to re-open the airport, with an initial emphasis on cargo and aircraft recycling operations. Riveroak however failed to supply Thanet District Council with the required information, and thus TDC declined to go forward with a CPO with Riveroak, as they felt that ample time had been given for Riveroak to supply the information required including financial status. Riveroak now plan to attempt the same using a Development Consent Order (DCO). The proposed development has been named Stone Hill Park.