I hope this will be taken constructively rather than negatively.
Your enthusiasm for your local airport is in many ways commendable. However, I've been hearing bold predictions about how Manston will quite definitely become a major airport, "like it or not" for as long as I can remember, and the truth is that they have continually fallen well short of reality.
Yes, a lot of people do have places in Spain. But certainly not enough, in Thanet, to make Manston a "major airport". Probably not even enough for a single daily rotation.
The unfortunate truth is that Manston is not in an advantageous location. Too far from London to realistically be a London airport, yet sufficiently close that the actual London airports, with a huge range of destinations and regular & frequent flights are within reasonable travelling distance of East Kent. 70% of the catchment area in the sea. The new CTRL making high speed rail an increasingly attractive alternative for short haul European travel. The list goes on.
Certainly, there is a market to be served in East Kent. But a limited market, made even more limited once much of it has drifted off to Gatwick and Stansted. And that remaining passenger base can only be viably serviced (IMO) by a similarly modest airline operation. I think Jetscream talked of an outfit carrying 100,000 pax annually to a restricted range of destinations after several years of development, which seems sensible to me.
I do agree with you on one point. I think Manston can continue to develop, and ultimately prosper as a freight airport, and seems to be making steady progress in this respect.