Infratil Airports, the owner of Kent International Airport (KIA), near Ramsgate, has unveiled its draft Master Plan for the future development of the airport over the next 25 years, which includes the return of scheduled passenger services to popular business and leisure destinations.

The plan, which was presented publicly for the first time at the meeting of the KIA Consultative Committee on Tuesday 7 October, will be made available to all stakeholders and copies of the draft Master Plan can be downloaded from the airport website: www.kia-m.com.

The announcement comes in the wake of the controversial proposals of Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, to build a new airport in the Thames Estuary and the prospect of the sale of London Gatwick.

Matt Clarke, Chief Executive of Kent International Airport, said: “KIA is incredibly well placed to become a significant regional airport for both passenger and freight services. Over the three years since acquiring the airport we have built a great team, invested in new equipment and facilities and now propose to take the airport to the next level. Our draft Master Plan provides airport stakeholders with an opportunity to see and comment on our vision for the exciting future ahead.”

The owners anticipate that there will be a stepped growth in passenger numbers as the first scheduled passenger services are introduced followed by steady growth seeing KIA exceed one million passengers per annum in 2011, two million in 2013 and heading towards six million by 2033. As has been
experienced at other Regional airports this growth is expected to deliver employment opportunities on a large scale. The airport estimates that its activities will be responsible for over 3,500 jobs by 2018 rising to 7,500 jobs by 2033.

Matt Clarke continued: “We expect passenger growth to stem from in and around the Kent catchment area as congestion at nearby London airports increases and services to and from convenient regional airports like KIA become increasingly attractive.”

Destinations such as Faro, Malaga, Alicante and Palma are mentioned in the plan as likely services to be introduced at KIA. These leisure destinations will be joined by domestic routes offering short break opportunities and business travel to Dublin, Edinburgh, Manchester and Glasgow.

The airport is also expected to see an increase in the level of freight it handles, rising from the current 33,000 tonnes to 100,000 tonnes in 2010, 150,000 tonnes in 2012 and exceeding 500,000 tonnes in 2033.

Matt Clarke added: “The commencement of high speed domestic rail services between Ramsgate and London in 2009 will dramatically reduce travel times to the capital making the airport even more attractive to passengers and therefore aircraft operators.

“The proposed expansion of the airport is supported by national, regional and local planning and economic development policy, and with the extensive facilities currently in place, the infrastructure required to support the projected growth can be accommodated on land currently owned by the airport.
We already have the beginnings of a well developed airport.

“The aircraft handling facilities exceed those found at many successful regional airports and we already host daily 747 aircraft movements during our peak season. KIA is a substantial asset which will benefit the whole County and provide much needed runway capacity for the South East.”

A global business, Infratil operates in a number of industries including the energy, airport and public transport sectors. In addition to KIA, the company owns a controlling stake in Wellington Airport in New Zealand and European airports Glasgow Prestwick and Lübeck, near Hamburg.