No New Runway for Stansted

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

Paul – every time I have travelled to Manston in the last ten years I have used the existing motorway / dual carriageway system which has been amazingly usable -infact far more usable than the western M25 ! What does let Manston down is the terminal building and last mile of road but thats minor ! 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!

who wants to go to doncaster.

Why no expand the following.

Leeds, Large populated area.

Have you seen where our runway is? 😉

my dad used to fly into birmingham to get to central london. he swore it was quicker than flying to heathrow.
with Birmingham Internation train station next door, it only takes 1 hour to get into central london from BHX.

Manston International

Hi Tommy,

Yes Manston has an excellent and much under utilised runway, but it’s an awful place to get to, stuck out on the eastern tip of Kent – with no decent road or rail links etc.

For me it would probably be almost as quick/easy to drive to Birmingham from home as it would to fight cross country to Manston, and I only live in the next county! Why woudl I flog cross country to Manston when I’m 30mins form LGW and only an hour from LHR or Southampton. Potential travellers from Essex catchment area would have to fight the M25 Dartford crossing, which is always choked up, and Stanstead is on their doorstep, so why would they bother using Manston. Pax from London area won’t be persuaded to hike off to the east Kent coast when LHR, LGW, City, Luton, Stanstead (and even BHX?) are so much easier to get to for most of them.

Draw a boundary showing travel time of say 45mins from the airport gate, and the catchment population within that zone for Manston is relatively small. Manston is (currently) too inaccessible compared to other current airports to take much new traffic. Yes, road/rail infrastructure could be improved, but that would probably cost more than adding runway at an existing, well connected airport such as LGW, LHR or Stanstead.

As you say, might be better to push some SE traffic out to the regional airports, but then the “hub” system doesn’t work as the connecting flights are fewer.

Either we all change our flying/travelling habits, or I reckon South East will see a new runway at LHR or LGW….. it’s just a matter of time.

Paul F

It’s like asking why there aren’t more flights to Providence or New Haven – It’s because people don’t want to fly there…

While Manchester is a big city, most visitors to the UK (particularly business visitors) want to be able to fly into London. Similarly, while East Midlands and Doncaster have a fairly central location, so does Wichita – doesn’t mean anyone would want to fly there.

Why no expand the following.

Doncaster, massive runway, massive amount of land for terminal expansion.

East Midlands, Central England location, easy motorway access.

Manchester, North England lacks USA flights, Manchester only serves 4 or 5 american cities, LHR serves double figuires.

Birmingham, Large populated area.

Leeds, Large populated area.

Manston, why not make this into a major uk airport, massive runway.

hopefully BHX will get a bit more service when the runway in extended. it is the airport with the most people within a 2 hour drive circumference (bits of london, manchester, the east midlands cities) so that might draw a few airlines in along with a longer runway.