Passenger flights for Manston Airport?
Passenger Survey
Kent residents are being offered the opportunity to influence a decision that could mean a major European airline will offer passenger flights from Manston Airport.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, which is merged with Air France, is considering operating twice daily flights from the Kent airport to Schiphol in Amsterdam, which would link Manston to the rest of the world.
Charles Buchanan, Chief Executive at Manston Airport, said: “As part of our route development activity, we have been in discussions with KLM for some time. The airline has asked us to conduct a survey of local residents to find out what the level of demand is for the service.”
The online survey, which must be completed by 5pm on Friday, October 12, can be found at www.surveymonkey.com/s/ManstonKLM
The flying to Amsterdam is just 40 minutes and from there, passengers will be able to fly to more than 90 direct destinations worldwide including the rest of Europe, America, Asia, andAfrica. Last year saw a record 49.8 million passengers pass through Schiphol, making it one of Europe’s busiest airports.
“If KLM decides to operate flights from Manston it would mean Kent residents would have easy access to sunny destinations all year round.” continued Charles Buchanan. “Manston is a great hassle free alternative to the London airports. We have very reasonable car parking charges and because of our fast check-in, passengers can be on a plane within minutes of arriving at the airport.
“We also have the advantage of being outside of the highly congested air traffic control area over London which means flights can avoid time-consuming holding patterns – ultimately reducing the travel time for passengers.
“As well as offering local residents the chance to travel worldwide, the flights would also bring a welcome boost to East Kent’s tourism with the potential to bring thousands of visitors to the county.”
Manston Airport currently has the capacity to welcome up to 1m passengers per year and its master plan estimates that passenger numbers could rise to 5m by 2033.