Manston Airport

Manston Airport (IATA: MSE, ICAO: EGMH) is a British airport. Originally operated as RAF Manston, from 1916, it has also operated as a commercial airport and was known as Kent International Airport and, briefly, London Manston Airport. It has been closed since 2014. Located in the parish of Minster-in-Thanet and partly adjacent to the village of Manston in the Thanet district of Kent, England, 11 NM (20 km; 13 mi) north-east of Canterbury.

The single runway is located about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the coastline at 178 ft (54 m) above sea level.

It has the 11th-longest civilian runway in the United Kingdom (after Heathrow's two runways, Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Stansted, East Midlands, Doncaster, Prestwick and Belfast International), 2,748 m (9,016 ft) in length. When operational, Manston was capable of handling some of the larger long-haul aircraft, but the runway was not long enough for the largest passenger or freight types at their maximum take-off weights. The runway was originally built with three "lanes" during the Second World War to handle emergencies, and is among the widest in Europe.

Since its closure, the airport has been used as an emergency lorry park in the event of temporary cross-Channel traffic problems, a filming location, including for the 2023 Sam Mendes film Empire of Light and has hosted a variety of aviation events, including the 2023 British Open Paramotor Championships and a general aviation fly-in event (May 2023).

Since 9 July 2019, Manston has been owned by RiverOak Strategic Partners and is the subject of a Development Consent Order to be reopened as an airfreight hub. The DCO was granted by the Secretary of State for Transport in July 2020 and again in August 2022, with the final legal challenge to the DCO dismissed in May 2024. The owners of the airport propose to reopen the airport for air cargo flights in 2028.