Riveroak Strategic Partners (RSP) is on the hunt for £750m of additional funding as it looks to finally realise the redevelopment of Kent gateway Manston Airport as a cargo hub for the UK – but vocal opposition to the plans remains.
A consultation into the final plans will commence next month, with RSP director Tony Freudmann reportedly claiming that given the extra funds, the cargo-only airport would be ready for business by 2029 – a year behind its most recent schedule.
“Manston represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver new runway capacity to support the UK air cargo market, and to transform the economic landscape of East Kent,” he told media.
“Following four years of delay caused by two judicial reviews, further change to the timetable has been caused by the complexity of planning work, as well as changes to the cost of the works to reopen Manston and turbulence in the financial markets.”
Stressing a determination to find the “right prospective funding partner” to reopen the more than 100-year-old former RAF base, Mr Freudmann said RSP was now at “an advanced stage” on that front.
Efforts to impede the airport’s reopening have been concerted, with campaigners opposed to RSP’s plans having twice sought judicial reviews to see it stopped.
One of its most vocal opponents, Aviation Environment Federation director Tim Johnson, told The Loadstar the “unnecessary development” faced opposition from the planning inspector who had recommended against it, as excessive congestion, noise, and pollution would be expected.
Mr Johnson added: “There’s no real progress on decarbonising aviation, which is fast on its way to becoming the UK’s biggest emittor by 2040, so pushing ahead, overruling community concerns at this time seems to fly in the face of our legally binding commitments.
“Based on what the enquiry showed, the promoters failed to show there was enough need for an extra cargo facility so it’s unlikely there will be many planes if it does go ahead.”
Against the Planning Inspectorate recommendation, Boris Johnson’s government granted a development consent order in 2020, which was subsequently quashed after an initial judicial review, followed by an independent aviation assessor reaching a similar conclusion.
Louise Congdon, managing partner of York Aviation, which carried out the assessment of the scheme, claimed RSP had “misrepresented” it to justify its proposals, including using global forecasts rather than UK data to suggest a move from bellyhold to full freighter.
Ms Congdon claimed multiple consultancies contested RSP’s claim it could handle 80,000 air traffic movements during the day, noting that York had suggested far lower figures, telling The Loadstar York’s position had not changed since RSP’s 2019 application.
“There’s no transparency on how they got these projections, but based on our most realistic forecasts, Manston would be able to recapture what it had before. If the market grew, it might meet 2,000 movements in 2040, nowhere near enough to justify a DCO,” added Ms Congdon.
She was speaking shortly after then Department for Transport head, Grant Shapps, issued a second DCO in August 2022, with campaigners immediately filing for a second judicial review, which was shot down in 2024, paving the way for RSP to move ahead.
According to one source, Manston’s location barred it from any conversation on air freight services, noting from Manston to the M25 alone would take an hour by road, the source telling The Loadstar East Midlands – a fully functioning gateway – would be better suited.
However, a source with experience of running full-freighter services claimed that Manston could make for a viable full-freighter airport, noting the successes that had been seen at the likes of Leipzig, Liege, and Zaragoza.
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