Kent International Airport
| Manston, Kent's International Airport | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | EGMH |
| IATA code | MSE |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 54 m (177 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 4 km west of Ramsgate , 20 km northeast of Canterbury |
| Street |
|
| Basic data | |
| opening | 1916 (military airfield) 1989 (Kent Int.) |
| closure | 2014 |
| operator | Infratil |
| Terminals | 1 |
| Passengers | 25,813 |
| Air freight | 28,103 t (2010) |
| Flight movements |
16,260 (2010) |
| Start-and runway | |
| 10/28 | 2752 m × 61 m asphalt |
Manston, Kent's International Airport ( IATA : MSE , ICAO : EGMH ), at times also marketed under the misleading name London Manston Airport , was a commercial airport near the town of Ramsgate in north-east Kent in south-east England . The less frequented airport used the runway of the Royal Air Force base RAF Manston , which existed until 1999 ; it was closed on May 15, 2014 for cost reasons.
Airport description and transport links
The airport is 54 m above sea level and about 1.5 km from the coast immediately south of the hamlet of Manston in the Thanet district . Other neighboring towns are the villages of Minster in the southwest, Acol in the northwest and Cliffsend in the southeast; the nearest town is the Ramsgate ferry terminal a few miles to the east. The airport was connected to Ramsgate, Broadstairs and Birchington by bus route 38 of the Stagecoach Group East Kent ; nearest railway station is that of Southeastern struck Ramsgate station . Canterbury is about 20 km to the south-west and could be reached via the A28 , London is about 120 km away, and the drive via A299 , M2 and A2 took just under two hours.
The airport had one terminal and the runway is 2.75 km long. The owner and operator was the New Zealand investment company Infratil , which also operates Glasgow Prestwick Airport .
Next to the airport are two small museums reminding of the complex's military past: the RAF Manston History Museum and the Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum .
history
In 1916, during the First World War , the Royal Navy built an airfield for their naval aviators in Manston, which was supplemented by a seaplane station at Westgate . The base grew rapidly, and as early as 1917 Manston had four underground hangars , its own railway connection, its own power generation and accommodation for 3,000 men. After the end of the war, the airfield was transferred to the newly created Royal Air Force ; a school was built to train aviation personnel in aircraft maintenance .
In the 1930s, the airfield was first used by a few civil aircraft. In addition, another airfield was built just a few kilometers away, Ramsgate Airport , which lasted until 1968.
During the Second World War , the Royal Air Force Station Manston ( RAF Manston for short ) was bombed during the Battle of Britain . In 1943, Barnes Wallis arrived at the base to test his " bouncing bomb " in the nearby village of Reculver . Typhoon fighter-bombers were now stationed, later also meteor jets . From 1944 the airfield was used to intercept V1 missiles . At the same time, the runway was greatly expanded (to 9,000 × 750 feet , i.e. approximately 2,743 × 229 m) to serve as an emergency landing pad for badly damaged returning bombers. For this purpose, the airfield was also equipped with the FIDO system to enable emergency landings in bad weather. Later, after the end of the war, the runway was supplemented by a taxiway and narrowed to 200 feet (61 m) wide.
In 1950 the military airfield was taken over by the United States Air Force and used by them for eight years. In 1960 it was returned to the RAF and again served as an emergency landing site and for flight training (with de Havilland Chipmunks ). In addition, a training center for the RAF fire brigade was set up. At the same time (not busy) airfield was the first time regularly used as a civil airport in the holiday season were numerous flat - charter flights instead. From the mid-1960s, sea rescue helicopters were stationed in Manston .
At the beginning of the 1980s, the military base regained importance with the reactivation of the nearby RAF Ash radar station , but the closure of the station was foreseeable at the end of the Cold War, which is why the expansion of the civilian area began. In 1989 a passenger terminal was opened and the new name Kent International Airport was announced. In 1999 RAF Manston was finally closed, which meant that the airport was only used civilly for the first time. The Defense Fire Training and Development Center took over the adjacent military buildings. The operating company changed its name to London Manston Airport for marketing reasons (although London is 120 km away), but had to declare bankruptcy in 2005 . As a result, the airport was sold to New Zealand investment company Infratil, which has operated it since then.
In the summer of 2013, British Airways used Manston for a few weeks for crew training with their first new A380 , which Airbus had just taken over .
After the suspension of the only scheduled connection (KLM to Amsterdam) and the failed search for a buyer, the airport was shut down and closed on May 15, 2014.
Destinations
From April 2, 2013 to April 9, 2014, KLM served Manston twice a day with a Fokker F70. Regular flights to other national or international airports could not prevail due to a lack of capacity. For example, Flybe temporarily flew routes to Edinburgh, Belfast and Manchester in 2010.
In addition, Manston Airport also had a certain importance as a freight hub and served in this area primarily as an alternative point for airlines for whom the London airports were too expensive.
Incidents
From 1958 until the closure, there were four total losses of commercial and transport aircraft, including one fatal accident with three fatalities.
- On January 23, 1958 arrived Vickers Varsity the Royal Air Force ( Air vehicle registration WL633 ) when landing on the runway from, collided with snowdrifts and exploded. Three of the five crew members were killed.
- On August 2, 1965, an Invicta International Airlines (G-AHPL) Vickers Viking 1B crashed on a training flight during take-off. All three crew members survived.
- On April 20, 1967, the pilots of a Bristol Britannia 308F operated by British Eagle International Airlines ( G-ANCG ) performed a belly landing on a foam carpet after a hydraulic failure . The machine touched down with the landing gear retracted and was irreparably damaged. All 11 crew members and 54 passengers survived.
- On September 30, 1968, on a training flight with the Airspeed Ambassador G-AMAG of Dan-Air, the right main landing gear could not be locked. The pilots evaded to Manston and belly landed there on a foam carpet. The machine was then beyond repair, but both crew members survived.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Civil Aviation Authority UK Airport Statistics: Terminal and Transit Passengers 2010 ( Memento from January 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 63 kB)
- ↑ Civil Aviation Authority UK Airport Statistics: Freight 2000 - 2010 Tonnes ( Memento of December 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 76 kB)
- ↑ Civil Aviation Authority UK Airport Statistics: Aircraft Movements 2010 ( Memento of December 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 85 kB)
- ↑ Manston Airport Sold to Infratil ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ bbc.co.uk - Kent's Manston Airport to close on 15 May (English) 6 May 2014
- ↑ BBC News of March 26, 2014: KLM suspends flights from Manston Airport
- ↑ Accident statistics at Manston Airport, Aviation Safety Network (English) , accessed on January 27, 2016.
- ^ Accident report WL633, Aviation Safety Network (English) , accessed on January 27, 2016.
- ^ Accident report G-AHPL, Aviation Safety Network (English) , accessed on January 27, 2016.
- ^ Accident report G-ANCG, Aviation Safety Network (English) , accessed on January 27, 2016.
- ^ Accident report G-AMAG, Aviation Safety Network (English) , accessed on January 27, 2016.
