I like to think that one of humanity's great redeeming features is the ability to learn from mistakes. To my dismay, it seems that KCC does not learn from its mistakes, which is particularly unfortunate given that these mistakes involve large sums of our money. They've done it before, and they're trying to do it again.
Manston Kent County Council has asked for extra time to respond to a Freedom of Information request about the cost to the taxpayer of a recent KCC trip to America. Deputy leader Alex King led a Kent delegation to Virginia last month to take part in celebrations to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first English-speaking settlement in the New World.
Manston Package holiday giant Cosmos has this morning confirmed it has pulled the plug on its planned flights to the US from Thanet's Manston Airport. The tour giant, which promised to make the Thanet airport a major departure point for flights to the United States, has failed to sell enough seats both in the UK and US.
Manston Brockmans Travel will be selling holidays and flights at Kent International from 2007. Brockmans will be selling holidays and flights from Kent International from firms including Kent Escapes, which is operating to Benidorm, Majorca and Faro, Cosmos, which is flying to Norfolk, Virginia, in the USA and Newmarket Holidays which is offering flights to Italy.
Brockmans Travel, Cosmos, Virginia Manston Direct flights between Kent and America will boost the county's economy by at least £20 million a year, tourist chiefs have been told. The prediction was made during an event to promote the start of passenger services from Kent International Airport at Manston to Norfolk, Virginia. The once-a-week service, which begins next spring, will bring in £5m from May to October 2007, it was claimed.
And if the route becomes permanent the financial boost for Kent could be four times that figure a year if US tourists stayed for just four days each, according to Tony Freudmann, chairman of aviation consultancy firm FT International. But he warned an audience of tourist managers at the Hop Farm in Paddock Wood on Tuesday:
"We have 10,000 tickets to sell and we need to sell them as quickly as possible."
KentNews 11th Oct 2006
KCC, Tony Freudmann, Virginia Manston Cosmos Holidays has launched its travel brochure for next year’s transatlantic service from Manston to Virginia, which will see thousands of American tourists flocking to the county each year. The direct charter flights to the American colonial state will be the first of their kind in the UK.
Cosmos, Steven Fitzgerald, Virginia Manston Direct flights transatlantic flights will start from Kent International Airport next year. Norfolk International Airport in Virginia is contributing half the start up costs (£400,000) with Kent County Council and a coalition of investors...
Long-promised direct flights between Kent and Virginia look set to take off next year. Senior representatives of Norfolk International Airport, Virginia, and Kent County Council are poised to sign an agreement that paves the way for new aviation links from May 2007.
A weekly charter service between Norfolk and Manston would be operated by Cosmos in the UK and CI Travel in the United States. Norfolk Airport Authority has agreed to become a financial partner and is understood to have pledged half the start-up costs. The proposed service builds on a Memorandum of Understanding between the state of Virginia and Kent signed in Richmond, Virginia, last June. One of its stated aims is the creation of an air bridge between the two regions to promote business, education and leisure links.
Alex King, KCC, Paul Tipple, PlaneStation, Tony Freudmann, Virginia Manston The county could become a gateway to the United States by next spring, Kent on Sunday can reveal. Negotiations are at advanced stages to operate passenger flights between Kent International Airport at Manston and Norfolk, Virginia, on the east coast of the US.
Manston Kent County Council is to spend £225,000 as a joint sponsor of a major cultural festival in America, it has emerged. The council has agreed to become a key financial backer of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington in 2007 as part of a drive to boost the number of American tourists coming to Kent. Council chiefs say the investment represents “value for money” and could eventually deliver a £50 million fillip to the county’s tourism industry.
Manston 
