"I never quite understand why Manston gets tipped for all this growth, particularly for passenger traffic.
It's in the middle of nowhere, with few local pax living nearby, and dreadful road/rail connections."
What do you mean by 'middle of nowhere'? The vast majority of users of major airports live nowhere near them - it's not the people who live near Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton etc that keep them going, it's the majority who travel long distances to get there. There are literally millions of people who live within a couple of hours drive from Manston. One of the drawbacks to using those major airports is that travelling to them is usually awful, particularly the nearer you get. One of the advantages to Manston is that it has motorway/dual carriageway all the way from London. On approaching the airport you are not snarled up in traffic like approaching Heathrow, for instance. In a few months there will also be a high-speed rail link from Ramsgate. This is far from 'dreadful road/rail connections'.