The owners of Manston Airport have reiterated their commitment to provide skilled jobs for local people when planes finally resume at the site.

The Thanet airfield has been closed since 2014, but earlier this year finally saw off a legal challenge which saw it cleared for take-off as a cargo hub.

RiverOak Strategic Partners, which owns the site, says it intends ot plough £800 million into the site to get it up and running again - with the prospect, if the cargo operation proves a success, of a possible eventual resumption of passenger flights.

It has welcomed a Future Skills Assessment report compiled for the Department for Transport by the National Skills Academy for Rail which provided an overview of the workforce of the transport sector in the UK - and underlined its intention to tap into local talent to provide the backbone of its workforce.

The report outlines future skills needs across the UK’s transport sector and examines the sector’s challenges, which include demographic trends, the impacts of new technologies and the transition to net zero.

In 2018, RSP established the Manston Skills and Employment Board (MSE-B) - which, it says, aligns closely with the latest report.

The MSE-B Includes representatives from local authorities, educational establishments and employer groups from across Thanet and east Kent “who are collaborating to ensure local people get the maximum benefit from the reopening of Manston Airport by having the right skills for the wide range of jobs that will be created”.

Tony Freudmann, director of RSP, said: “We’ve long understood the importance of properly planning the future employment and skills needs of the airport and so we set up MSE-B, in 2018, to make sure we could take a both a long term view and a collaborative approach.

“The commitment and partnership spirit of the organisations involved has been fantastic from the outset and we are extremely grateful to them for their ongoing support.

“Together, we are determined to maximise the pipeline of talent, and training and employment opportunities to support not only Manston Airport when it opens but also the many new and existing businesses in Thanet and east Kent that will supply and benefit from the new air cargo hub.”

Extensive renovation of the airport is not expected to begin until the end of 2025, with a completion date pencilled in for late 2027 or early 2028.