Can the new owners of Manston Airport succeed where others have failed? RiverOak director, Tony Freudmann, tells Tom Allett how the company plans to relaunch the dormant airfield

After a five-year struggle, efforts to reopen Manston Airport on the southeast tip of England received a major boost in July when the UK government approved a £300m development plan. Ironically, the ‘green light’ for the airport’s revival has coincided with the commercial aviation industry’s struggle to recover from the COVID-19 crisis, but the Kent facility’s owners believe air cargo provides a way forward.