Representation by Matthew Gee
- Date submitted
- 7 October 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Dear Sir,
I would like to add my support for the use of Manston Airport for aviation, for use as an international freight and passenger hub. Airport capacity in the south-east is in scare supply but high demand, and Manston can answer that call probably within a year - planes could be flying again.
As we enter the unknown territory of Brexit - we will need, as a country, to be able to respond to calls from business to be able to import and export goods and services quickly. Nowadays, a lot of freight in landed in Liege or Cologne/Bonn and trucked over to the UK as there are not enough landing slots - how crazy is that. With Brexit, all that freight will be subject to the hassle of getting through customs (potentially) and with Manston open for business - it can come right in.
Manston used to be quite a noisy place, one of the subsidiary airfields that had semi regular cargo flights from Eastern Europe or Africa, using old Soviet era jets or old generation Boeing 707's and Douglas DC8's - all quite noisy. The next generation of jets are almost silent by comparison - so any noise complainants can be countered.
The re-opening of Manston is of strategic national importance right now - as is providing high skilled jobs in the local area - Thanet has lost some key firms and industries in the last few years and getting some back will do wonders for the local economy.
We can build houses anywhere - we can't land planes everywhere...Heathrow will not be expanding for many years so lets get behind this bid and free up trade opportunities with the rest of the world right now.
regards
Matt Gee