From the BBC(03/10):

"Plans to develop a commercial airport at the former RAF Alconbury site in Cambridgeshire are going on display on Thursday. The exhibition in Huntingdon has been organised by the Department for Transport to show its plans for UK air services over the next 30 years.

The Alconbury airfield was earmarked in July as a potential site for a freight and low-cost airport to help cope with the estimated rise in demand for air travel.

The proposals have caused concern among local residents and conservationists, as well as councillors in Huntingdon and neighbouring Northamptonshire.

The new airport, which could open in 2011, might handle up to five million passengers and one million tonnes of freight a year by 2030. If it was built, a rail link would be needed and the A1(M)/ A14 road junction would have to be improved. Ministers claim the airport could create about 12,000 jobs, mainly for local people.

However, when the plans were unveiled in July, Huntingdon councillors were concerned over whether the area could cope with an airport.

Over the county boundary in East Northamptonshire, councillors voted in September in favour of writing to the Secretary of State protesting at the plans.

And a spokesman for the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England said last month that the site would be better used to ease development problems in the area, rather than for an airport.

The exhibition at the Marriott Hotel on Kingfisher Way in Huntingdon will be open from 0900 BST to 2100 BST.

It is one of a series of exhibitions organised by the Department for Transport as part of its consultation process, which ends on 30 November."

A much needed boost for the very much neglected area. 12,000 jobs, well, this means it will provide a 50,000 inhabitant town with jobs....
Much needed after plans for Cambridge are slowly facing the light whereas the Marshalls managers are only waiting to see the founder depart on his final journey to sell the aviation estate.

With good ground based infrastructure it may develop into a success soon.
Wonder if Coventry will continue any further expansion plans...

A million tonnes of freight?

Just where's that coming from? The 'planners' are living in cloud cuckoo land methinks.

Heathrow manages just over the million and the others are way behind. Gatwick does less than 300,000 tonnes, East Midlands around 200,000 and Manchester around 100,000.

Someone needs a reality check.

CS

cargosales, it does say "by 2030". Look at Heathrow and the others 10 years ago. Heathrow was handling 755k, Gatwick 190k, East Midlands 11k, and Manchester 76k. Source Department of Transport: Transport Statistics GB - 2001.

30 years ago all UK airports together were handling 649k, as compared with 2326k tonnes in 2000.

Newswatcher:

Mmm Fair point but I still can't see that a million tonnes is going to go to this airport.

If you look at the projections from Boeing and Airbus, they reckon that air freight is going to double in the next twenty years.

That would mean Alconbury having to take roughly half of that new business (= around a quarter of all UK cargo) to meet its projected target.

Can't see any of the existing airports letting that happen without a real fight. Take EMA as an example - lots of slots and capacity available there right now. And other 'up and coming' cargo airports like Manston have masses of spare capacity.

Guess we'll have to wait and see!

CS