The current Lydd Airport was never an RAF station,- or grass. It was built, largely on shingle, in the early 1950s by Silver City Airways to replace the grass Lympne as the base for its 20 minute high frequency cross channel car ferry services, mainly to Le Touquet by Bristol Freighters and Superfreighters. Air Kruise (Kent) was also there with its all all passenger DC 3s and was later merged into Silver City. The simultaneous need for a Superfreighter ultra short haul replacement and the rise of the ferry companies resulted in a lingering death for Silver City and for many years the airport and its terminal were pretty moribund, a sad fate for an airport which originally was recording the highest freight tonnage of any UK airport. Geography and slow road access doesn't help it and the nearby single track link to the Rye- Ashford rail line is freight only. It will always struggle and for long haul freight Manston's USAF B-36 sized runway is a ready made much better bet and slightly better placed for access to the UK motorway system.