KLM Air France To Fly From Manston

I have just put up the press release about this see http://thanetpress.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/klm-royal-dutch-airlines-connects-kent.html and will do my best to explain the whys and wherefores.

I think the main reason for this is that KLM Royal Dutch Airlines which is also Air France at the top of the company, has no main airport hub in the UK.

I think they are unable to compete with British Airways for flight slots at Heathrow so have gone down the road of ferrying passengers from regional airports to their main hub airports in Amsterdam and Paris.

They are already using 17 departure points in the UK: Aberdeen, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Durham-Tees Valley, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Humberside, Inverness, Leeds-Bradford, London City, London Heathrow, Manchester, Manston, Newcastle, Norwich and Southampton.

So I don’t think this heralds the start of a huge expansion of Manston Airport by a major operator, on the other hand it does look as though it may finally be something viable and useful to the local economy from Manston Airport.

Manston operator Infratil has reported a loss of Aus$17 million for the six months to September, after it wrote down the value of its British Airports and other assets.

Last year the company posted a Aus$50m surplus for the same period.

So I would guess they have an even stronger imperative to get rid of Manston as soon as they reasonably can, as I have said before my main concern here is that they have decided not to get the Manston environmental standards up to the level thrashed out with the Environment Agency, presumably because they don’t want to make the investment in an airport they are trying to sell.

One thing about this issue that I find puzzling it is the online survey getting over 9,000 results. This is manly because I understand web presence and people’s reluctance to fill in online forms, I understand from my own webstats how many people would look at a post about Manston Airport, be likely to go to the airport’s website and fill in a form.

For myself I am hoping this will bring more customers to my bookshop in Ramsgate, this isn’t as far fetched as it sounds as I already have a considerable European customer base..

Incidentally I notice both Clive Hart and Laura Sandys are supporting this on FaceBook and Twitter. 

Trains, planes, boats and aeroplanes, the Thanet transport issues.

 Somewhere around 200 years ago, local history books differ on he exact date, the first paddle steamer arrived in Margate, this predated the railways and provided the first comfortable, economic and reliable means of transport for Londoners to the coast.

In terms of ordinary people this was the beginning of the holiday and modern travel i.e travel that was faster than a horse or subject to the whim of wind direction.

Recently with the coming of the new fast train service and the completion of the Ramsgate end of the duel carriageway to London, the local transport situation has changed.

 Essentially though, apart from some fairly short lived efforts travel beyond Thanet has been a bit sporadic, centred around Manston Airport and Ramsgate Harbour. Looking back over my association with Ramsgate that extends over about the last 45 years, I would say it has been the hovercraft and the Sally line that appeared to have the most positive economic impact on the area.

It is looking increasingly likely that KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, will be starting a service from Manston, as you see from this news article they are holding a dinner in Canterbury http://www.kentnews.co.uk/news/could_klm_dinner_in_canterbury_reveal_decision_on_manston_1_1667532 I guess that Canterbury is the economic hub of this part of Kent.

 Apparently 9,066 people have filled out their online form, saying they want their air service from Manston. To me this seems like a very large number of people to fill out an online form.

On the ferry front Transeuropa Ferries who run the ferry service out of Ramsgate have put the following notification on their website:

Due to temporary changes in our fleet we apologise that we are unable to accommodate passengers in wheelchairs.  Customers with walking difficulties should be aware that there are approximately 25 stairs to the passenger facilities. Please note that on the Gardenia there are no separated areas for freight drivers and passengers. Due to the lack of a children’s play area, this ship is not really suitable for young children.
If we experience operational difficulties the schedule may be changed.

 Added to this information Larkspur their main ferry doesn’t seem to have crossed to Belgium recently, producing concerns that there may be problems with what is an increasingly aging fleet.

Obviously the real benefits to Thanet, is having passengers arrive here, passengers and freight that passes straight through only really benefits the people working within the transport industry and indirectly Thanet if they happen to live here. 

 I will try to add to this one.