Reality hits home, Infratil leave town
Delusion has finally been swept away by the onslaught of reality and Infratil are throwing in the towel. This has been a long time coming, and Nostrildamus predicted it in November 2010.
Manston Airport has been put up for sale. Bosses at Kent International Airport told staff at 10.30am yesterday (Friday) morning. The shock decision was made by owners Infratil. The New Zealand-based company also plans to sell its airport at Prestwick near Glasgow.
IoT Gazette 8th March 2012
This is obviously bad news for all those employed at the airport. Manston was clearly one of Infratil's rare bad investments, and the workforce at the airport did their best to make a silk purse out of a flying pig's ear, but to no avail. After having been strung along for so long, I hope that they get decent redundancy packages from Infratil. Except Charles Buchanan, and whoever runs their complaints department, obviously.
One excellent aspect of this is that TDC now have an unmissable opportunity to start with a clean slate. If Manston is sold as an airport, the Council can enter into fresh negotiations with the new owners and arrive at a planning permission that satisfies the owner's need for a stable long-term framework within which to develop their business plans, and the Council can write a new S106 agreement that is effective in protecting the interests of the residents of north-east Kent.
Have a look at these posts for a positive take on how we could get a win-win result.
Charles Buchanan, Complaints, Planning, S106, Sale Infratil, Manston, Night flights, TDC
Reader Comments (72)
Quality of life is about more than having a well paid job. I'll settle for sanity and living in my home town of Ramsgate with a poor wage and rubbish pension. As the song goes..... It's not about the money, money etc etc
What next TDC?
Give me your address so when I get made redundant I can come knocking on your door for a hand out, comments like that are unwanted and make me sick.....but as long as you can sleep at nigh thats ok then....how about my sleepless nights worrying about how I am going to pay my mortgage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am so sorry that in today's climate more people have or will lose their jobs, but I feel extremely happy at the prospect of not being woken up at 4.50am, and flights at 11pm.
It may be insensitive but the majority of people would like a peaceful existance in their own homes!!!!
I know that most people including myself WANT a thriving DAYTIME operation at Manston.
Why are Infratil being so heavy handed making everyone redundant? Most Companies would keep their airport operation's running whilst looking for a new buyer? Unless their whole business has gone into administration?
It's like Infratil are throwing their toys out of the pram or is this some sort of ploy?
@Den -Your comments are not cool!
In your haste to get one over on me you may have noticed that those five words were in quotes, had you bothered to look you should have noticed that it fell from the fingers of one of your own.
Some of us have known for sometime that the airport would be put up for sale and from what I've been hearing about who is in the running to buy it, I would, if I was in your in your extremely small shoes, be seriously contemplating whipping on the old brown trousers at this very moment. Stand by for a 24 hour operation coming to an airport near you very soon.
No no no this is a CON they know TDC will be worried as to the amount of jobs will be lost [mind you I don't think there's anywhere near the amount of jobs they're talking about over there] they know how easy it is to con TDC into giving them what they want then the for sale signs will come down then they've got waht they want.
Roger Gale I think should retire he has'nt got a clue, Gerry not a bad fella I suppose but he has'nt got much idea of this business, & isn't it strange only one person is complaining about losing his job. Be careful it's not over yet I bet Charles is still smilling.
http://news.stv.tv/scotland/west-central/300163-prestwick-airport-to-be-sold-off/
The airport does not have a buyer. If it did, it would have been sold.
It's currently on the market, hence the publicity today. Same as Edinburgh airport is. Same as Prestwick is. Same as Stansted is/will be. Difference between these and Manston? Passengers.
The two major airports operators in the south east would not be allowed to bid. Freight is mostly (90%+) taken in the hold of passenger aircraft. Two operators have failed to make a go of the airport during the greatest boom in air travel the globe has ever seen. Good luck to anyone keeping this as a going concern.
Which mystery buyer has been telling Roger Gale MP and GO'D Himself that they will take it over and start doing business that will shake the dead from their graves? I think what we are seeing is a couple of tired old men afraid to admit they were wrong and saying anything to keep up the pretence.
For crying out loud Gerry. Do you never learn? You've been wrong about everything and you still keep spouting rubbish. When are you going to realise that you simply aren't in the loop on this one (or any other one, as far as I can tell). You took a ridiculous antagonistic stance which means that the people who have real inside information don't talk to you. Consequently, everything you post is just made up. Engage your tiny brain for a moment and have a think about it. If your new petrol-head friends knew about the sale, how come they didn't tell you? Yes, that's right. They aren't in the circle of trust either. You're all in a circle of your own and it's way off centre.
As for having a buyer, ponder on who is going to buy an airport which does not have an EIA, risk assessment, discharge consent or planning permission. You'd have to be nuts.
You ask the question "Who would buy an airport etc etc etc - well somebody has and far from being "nuts" they are incredibly successful at what they do.
Sleep well . . . for now!
You do not engage PWC to sell off an asset, if you have a buyer. I do hope Lord of nothing much at all, and more importantly our Laura insist that PWC inform all the interested parties the sheer cost of dealing with the outstanding planning issues. If troll (Oh Dear) lost his personal bigotry and prejudices and thought things out, he would surely be able to argue more effectively instead of going on about clowns and the like.
I would like to know why Lord of nothing much at all can prejudice his position on chairing an Airport committee yet come out with same drivel that has hamstrung this Island due to the prized cow syndrome that has become Manston worthless airport. So why is it that an MP can protect at all cost a Private Interest over the larger Public interests?
We also have an issue of plan B which would bring more jobs etc to the prized cow area, but who in official circles is going to grow a backbone and deal with it?
I am curious as I wonder if it could be a Dover Harbour proposition, where all the residents of Thanet and Herne Bay could be Shareholders and Owners.
From a business perspective it is perfectly logical for Infratil to throw the towel on a loss making venture especially when there will be some doubt as to the viability of even night freight without day passenger services.
But it does seem to me that the Airport should not be written off as a business venture. It has huge potential, but my concern is that with most of its income going into the likes of Buchanan's large pockets it was never going to break even.
Each airline that has tried to run services has always seemed to me to be doing too much, too wrong.
Please ignore the provacateur loner that is Oh Dear. If you ignore him then he becomes simply the wino on the street swearing and cussing at anything and everything. A figure to be pitied and ignored.
"in six months time you'll know what night flights are". No we didn't.
""BAWC have decided to leave stansted and come to Manston". No they didn't.
"A service to a European hub with a reputable carrier will start imminently". No it hasn't.
"'Manston already has a buyer". No, it hasn't.
Buyers for airports, especially in the south east, are going to be thin on the ground. Do you honestly think Infratil would hire PWC to Up the price and potentially scare them off?
Talk up the asset, get some publicity, talk of mystery buyers. Look at what else Charles Manston has been rumour mongering over the past few years and has turned out to be complete bollocks.
Don't you Manston lovers get it? He's played you all for utter fools.
Stargazer
A Westwood X being built at Manston+Leisure centre/waterpark+Parkway station to allow access for the people. No more congestion around the current Westwood site and less traffic coming into the heart of Thanet. Everyone would have come away happy. Even MP Gale. And you would still have had room for a small airstrip!
The idea of airport expansion, at an economic, environment or whatever level, just didn`t make sense. It appeared to be in direct conflict with the TDC's expressed development plan for the three prominent areas of Thanet. As one of the poorest/deprived areas of the country I would hope more thought would be given to the well-being of this comunity.
So, we have had three commercial owners of Manston, each of which has walked away from it because they can't make money out of it. Is that an asset that people are queuing up to buy? The big money boys say not. Well, not as an airport. But there IS money out there for a different business venture on that site. Let's hope that TDC makes it clear to Infratil and the market that they would consider a change of use for Manston.
Lastly, if this sale were as a result of pressure by No Night Flights, then Infratil would not be selling Prestwick. No, this sale is the fruition of the plans that Infratil publicised way before the night flight application came in, i.e. to withdraw from under-performing assets and to invest the money in something that will make money.
Even now they talk about Manston as an alternative to Boris Island! They remind me of some of the unsavory estate agents I've dealt with in the past!
Unless the planning and legals concerned with the airport are professionally solved there will be nothing to stop another crap outfit from trying the same behavior again!
"no track record of success" - it made an average £3-4 million annual loss since they bought it. They are an investment company, duty-bound to make profit for their share-holders.
"no likelihood of future success" - which is why they are selling it.
Somebody have a word with these people please!
Your regular comments that attempt to debunk the contributors to threads here, indicate that you feel very important and may well work at the airport and like Charles want to keep talking the airport up to attract future investors.
I think you're in a state of denial, as the business plan at Manston has failed miserably and you have lost your existing divestors much money.
Grow some balls and tell us your big secret, we are all listening!