Back in the day, Manston Airport near Margate used to fly Brits to their holidays in Europe, with destinations including Italy, Portugal and Amsterdam. The airport closed its doors in 2014, but in 2025 it announced it was going to make a comeback. Now there’s been an update, as owners said the airport could reopen in 2029.
Originally built in 1916 as an RAF base, Manston also operated as a commercial terminal until shutting down more than a decade ago. In recent years it’s operated as a car park, hosted aviation events and was even the set for the 2022 film Empire of Light.
Originally tipped to open in 2028, the return of Manston Airport has been pushed back by a year due to the ‘complexity of planning work, changes to the cost of the works and turbulence within the financial markets’, Tony Freudman from airport owners RiverOak Strategic Partners (RSP) said.
Freudman told Kent Online that Manston could reopen as a cargo airport in 2029, but it could still be a few years until passenger flights return to the terminal. The £750 million project is reportedly in its final stages, with the airport in final discussions with a European funding partner.
No airlines have expressed an interest in operating from Manston yet, but Freudman said that airlines like Jet2 and TUI prefer ‘regional airports like this one’. RSP hopes that a consultation on proposed airspace will begin in March 2026.
‘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 in East Kent,’ RSP said.
‘RSP remains keen to get Manston open as soon as possible. However, we are realistic about the complexity of delivering a major infrastructure project. There are no shortcuts to reopening the airport, in a sustainable way, for the long term and delays can unfortunately become a part of the process of getting it right.
All aboard: TfL is trialling a brand new bus stop design across London.
Oh no: London’s busiest train station will have major closures for an entire month.
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