Airline passenger news and views

Governments past, present and coalition talk a lot about integrated transport strategies but achieve very little.  Contrast this with domestic airline Flybe who have quietly been developing services from UK regional airports.

Not that many of you will even have heard of Manston or Kent International Airport as it is now called.  It was, to be fair, little more than an oversized wartime runway in eastern Kent best known for testing the Dam Busters bouncing bomb and being a diversionary landing site for NASA’s space shuttle.

Now, Flybe have commenced scheduled services from there to Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow whilst other airlines are running an increasing number of overseas services.  This is obviously great for people living and working in Kent but it could and should have a much greater significance.

The area in which Kent International is located is the so-called UK Gateway with the EuroStar at Ebbsfleet, the Eurotunnel at Folkstone and cross-channel ferries at Dover and Ramsgate. 

Ideally, the M2 and M20 motorways, fast rail and some mono-rail shuttles would have connected them together but this is where the integrated transport plan fell down. For the moment, you end up on some local roads cursing Lord Prescott for the might-have-beens.

For those that have used regional airports, their value is startlingly clear. They are small, efficient and much more cost effective than big airports (easy-access parking at Manston is £25 per week !). Can you imagine what might have been done with a properly planned combination of motorway and high-speed rail access straight into the airport?

But, take nothing away from Flybe, they are helping to make Manston an exciting new facility for an area of growing commercial importance.  I only wish the government would take its lead from companies like Flybe rather than their own ineffective talking-shops.