Why not look at Ostend as the perfect example. Like Manston it is located close to a seaport (2 of the largest ones in Europe such as Antwerp and Rotterdam). Also like Manston it is about 1.5 hours away from a large airport (Brussels). And like Manston, it has its hopes set on cargo, aircraft recycling and the low cost carriers. And like Manston (sorry for repeating that), it is failing completely, and would not survive if it were not for the Belgium government pumping money into it.
without massive public help (= tax payer's cash) it is a carbon copy of Ostende, and the UK government is rather less keen on donating cash to money pits than the Belgian (possibly the Flanders) government is.
It seems you guys are not up-to-date with the Ostend situation.
Manston and Ostend can not be compared to each other. Ostend as a regional airport is doing better again.Catchment area is much bigger than the manston one. Commercial operation is in the hands of a private company which is doing its best to attract new business.Also the government and local Tourist assocciations are extra promoting Flanders, with airports of OST and ANR as ports of entry.
In fact passenger traffic is increasing again and is expected to be +20-25% higher than last year. Out of OST some 15 destinations are served with multiple weekly flights.Some of them year round. True,after the loss of some important cargo airlines,freight is on the decline ,but nevertheless the airport has still some major assets for cargo-operators such as a long runway,big capacity for storage of perishables, plenty of parking space for widebody aircraft,fast turnarounds,no holding patterns to be flown,etc... It's only a matter of time and freight will be on the rise aswell. In fact,due to the presence of the chunnel,and now that Manston is closed,OST could become a major port-of- entry to the UK market for perishables coming from Africa and South-America...
