Olympic meddling

Update on those 44 Olympic night flights - Charles Buchanan accepts the reality of supply and demand! Let's see how much demand there is for Manston...

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Regional airports prepare for Olympic flight rush

Hundreds of flights will be allowed to take off and land at Kent's airports - including Manston - every day during this summer's Olympics. Manston, Lydd and Rochester have been asked to take a share of the 500,000 international visitors expected during the Games.

In total, the airports will have to accept up to around 370 flights a day, as all three will be regulated between 21 July and 15 August to prevent overcrowding at Heathrow.

Manston could operate round the clock and could accommodate a maximum of 192 arrivals and departures every day, of which 44 could be at night - however, Charles Buchanan, chief executive of airport owners Infratil, stressed:

"That is a maximum figure - what transpires will clearly be a case of supply and demand"

Kent Messenger Thanet

Comments

[Gabriel]

I'll repeat a point I made before on this story:

Airport Coordination Limited states:

"All capacities are subject to airports individual operating constraints and locally agreed restrictions"

- so if the Council gets its act together presumably there will be restrictions on night flights, or potential claims made against Infratil for making a quick buck against the background of 30,000 residents who can't sleep especially as they'll have their windows open at night as it will be warm......the stench of aviation fuel and sweat..one if these is carcinogenic!

[John]

@Gabriel

You're being hysterical and nimby!! Lack of sleep and carcinogenic fumes are acceptable if there is a commercial gain involved in this world.

Anyway the good news is, given the prevailing SW wind direction, fumes are more of a Manston village/Broadstairs/Margate issue rather than a Ramsgate problem.

I live in Deal and can't really hear the planes. So as it's not in my back yard I am all for the massive expansion and night flights.

[Gabriel]

@John

Fuckwit!

[Nick]

heavy dose of sarcasm i hope John!

[John]

affirmative Nick. whoops!

[Mr Gabriel]

@John.

Forgiven.

This airport issue, sadly, is hard to laugh at, although I fear the frustration with TDC's years of incompetance and Infratil's commercial desperation, parodying G.O.D. and humour is the only way to survive this debacle!

[John]

Yes I totally agree with you Gabriel.

I moved to Ramsgate 10 years ago after securing a job at Pfizer, unfortunately I was made redundant a few years ago.

I know how hard it is to find work in Thanet, jobs are so important, but the airport's proposal basically gambles Ramsgate's future. The airport will need to be a resounding success to outweigh the blight of night flight noise and pollution and may take many more years for it to succeed. In the meantime Ramsgate could be dragged down by its new blight and many more jobs may be lost. The DFL people are a huge benefit to the local economy with their businesses and money.

TDC are quite frankly a household joke.

John.

[only fools]

Massive expansion ha ha ha, i didn't know deal was koo koo land

[Local Resident]

The trouble is that anyone who doesn't live in Thanet think's it's a great idea to have the new London airport at Manston! Everyone is a 'Nimby' when you think about it. Outsiders quite rightly say they don't want all the issues of an airport near to them, but then wrongly say "let Manston take it. There's not many people living there to disturb as it is out on the Isle of Thanet". There aren't any thoughts for the residents that live within earshot of the place. Manston is the highest ground in Thanet so all residents would suffer from loss of sleep and pollution from night flights for the sake of a few extra jobs. There must be a better answer. People's health must come before economics.