Call in Boris?
Perhaps our London Mayor should dump his plans for an estuary airport and take on Manston?
Seriously though I just cannot see any civil airport making a commercial success that far East. The transport links are woeful and there is insufficient travel superstructure in place and population.
Mind you I don't know why Heathrow succeeds with such a lack of Westward train links, so what do I know?
Wasn't Manson the airport where FIDO was developed? I remember once reading about the job of lighting it which I believe was some asbestos skinned ground staff who drove around it holding a burning torch and lighting the jets from a Land Rover...............a job not to have :0)