Does anyone know if there is any possibility of flying a light aircraft into Manston nowadays or is it completely shut?

Romaro

I don't believe it is a maximum of 14 freighters per day, a pipe dream perhaps but RSP have boasted that they anticipate 10,000 freighter movements per annum which, by my calculation, equates to an average of 13.69 aircraft per day.

You are right, as I keep saying myself, regarding other revenue streams, I read recently that Marshall's are to sell CBG and were looking for another UK airfield home, has anybody from RSP been in contact with Marshall's as to what Manston has to offer them, look at what has been achieved at Kemble, aircraft scrapping/recycling, general aviation, vintage aircraft etc. and without a passenger of freighter service in sight, Manston needs to be sourcing a maintenance facility operator, Lufthansa Technik have 12 facilities across Europe, have Lufty along with other European maintenance operators been marketed, get an on-field maintenance facility and they shall bring in the aircraft for the airfield operator.

Last time GE flew over there were 21 aircraft visible on the ground at Lydd, 27 aircraft visible at Headcorn, attract a general aviation maintenance operator to attract just some of these and other aircraft, develop a flying club with cafe/bar to attract based aircraft, day trippers and spotters alike to spend their time and money in, as suggested RSP shall be starting with literally a blank canvas, they shall not be upsetting any existing on-site businesses by kicking them out to redevelop any particular area(s) of the airfield, the opportunities are endless with the appropriate management and marketing.

And, as a previous poster appears to have confirmed, at MTOW off Manston's runway a B747F would only be good for around a 4 hour leg before it would need to stop for fuel again, that is going to increase the costs of many a B747F operation out of Manston whilst, as others have pointed out, the guy in charge of this attempted Manston resurgence is the guy that was in charge when PlaneStation, previous owners of Manston and EUJet, folded for a debt of £40 million!

The airfield is closed.

"Lufthansa Technik have 12 facilities across Europe," which they are trying to reduce ...................

Great idea opening an MRO. How on earth you recruit those requisite people with the skills to maintain aircraft is another matter.

OC37

East Midlands seems to do pretty well at just over 2800m.

Should the load be courier related traffic then the payloads shall not be 'heavy', as a rule of thumb courier loads are relatively lightweight by comparison but any B747F's out of EMA shall not be departing at maximum structural weights and if they are departing at MTOW for EMA's runway length then, unless a cold day with a strong headwind, they shall only be operating a 4 hour or so leg before landing to refuel.

Not a chance whatsoever that Marshall would migrate that far away from Cambridge. All their assets are the people, that kind of geographical move would lose the vast majority of the workforce.

Marshalls are looking at Cranfield according to the press releases.

And one of the disadvantages being quoted for that move is the distance from CBG...

The runway is, two helicopter companies operate from the field.

Manston a dead duck again?

The Government DCO to re-open Manston as a cargo terminal has been officially quashed by the High Court due to lack of appropriate evidence to support such a development.
Government & RSP to pay all costs.

I suspect the plan all along was really too concrete over it with a huge new town.

Still if that's what the locals would prefer, then good luck to them I say....

The next DCO application will be Luton which will be harder to obtain than Manston’s failed attempt.

DCO granted (again)
 

BBC Link

DCO Approved again, reopen to freight in 2025.

Feels a bit like a singer who was famous many years ago but spent several years having a quiet life then coming out of retirement. Alas most champion boxers don't typically have much in common with the Rocky films

Great news, it would be such a shame to see that runway buried under a load of shoddily built new homes.

Is this a response to DSA's recent notice of potential closure, offering themselves up as an unconstrained site to move cargo through that might not be able to get slots or suitable infrastructure elsewhere in England?

Doubt it - been rumbling on for years.

And the unconstrained site with the infrastructure and no slot restrictions at DSA was getting 2/3 flights a week.

The whole concept of re-opening of Manston as a "cargo hub" is total nonsense. Sitting as it does in the extreme southeast corner of England, south of the Thames with a river crossing at Dartford that is totally unfit for purpose, and a motorway network leading from it to said crossing being totally inadequate for the traffic it currently carries how exactly does it expect to attract cargo carriers in the number it would need to be viable. The likes of DHL, UPS and FedEx aren't likely to be champing at the bit to move there, as it's in completely the wrong place from a logistics perspective. If the integrators are taken out of the equation what exactly is left? Emirates, Turkish, Ethiopian, and Qatar that are the bread and butter for the likes of Liege, Maastricht (both well located for western European markets with excellent road connections unlike Manston) and at least two of those are already well ensconced at STN.

Sure there are a couple of 747s per week currently operating through DSA with perishables from Africa. They operate to DSA, I suspect, because the cargo is destined for the Midland and Northern fruit and veg markets (remember those in the south there are more markets than Covent Garden!!), and therefore the likes of EMA, BHX and possibly MAN will likely be the chosen refuges for these flights should DSA close to freight operations not a far flung strip of tarmac in Kent!