What amazes me is that people from the Southern Counties equate going to Manston with trying to get to the moon! I live in deepest Lincolnshire and find it incredibly easy to do the 150 mile journey and have never been held up at the bridge!

Hi David,

You must be the luckiest user of the Dartford Crossing then, it is crawling at best, and stationary at worst whenever I have used it in either direction except in the wee small hours. Local (South East) travel news regularly flags M25 up as log-jammed for one or two junctions as you approach from either side in am or pm rush hour – why suffer that when Stanstead is an easier run from East Anglia catchment.

Approaching from Dartford, Manston may be fairly accessible via m’way (once south of the river crossing), but from Central Sussex/Sussex coast its far from ideal, as the only “easy” route is northwards to join M25 then round to M2/M20 , as cross country A-roads are shorter route but diabolical. Why go to all that hassle when so many people can get to Gatwick or Heathrow so much more easily by train or road (and yes I know only too well how slow the western sections of M25 can be too).

If Manston was such a desirable option for operators or pax then I suspect it would already be much busier – after all the runway is in situ and ready to use and a modern “tin shed” type terminal building is relatively quick and easy to build, as you sya yourself, the last mile or two of road and the terminal are relatively easy to upgrade so I have ask myself why hasn’t it been done already? In absence of a new-build runway maybe capacity issues at the big four “London” airports will force additional traffic to move elsewhere, but I’d be very suprised if Manston picks up much of the overspill, even with the long term plans for new industry and new homes in the Thames Gateway area.

Paul F