Manston Airport is preparing for take-off once more after the Department for Transport confirmed its Development Consent Order (DCO) has been granted.

The permission means multi-million pound plans to see flights return to the airport in Thanet - shut since 2014 - can now finally begin.

RiverOak Strategic Partners (RSP) which owns the site and have long been pushing for the plans, aims to establish a freight airport on the site - a move which would create jobs and investment.

The news was welcomed by South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay who hailed it as a "great day for east Kent".

The MP added: “It’s fantastic news that - finally - the redetermined DCO for Manston has been granted.

“I’ve been saying for as long as anyone will listen that Thanet with Manston for aviation is a wholly different Thanet from one without. This positive DCO for Manston is a game-changer and the turn-key to prosperity in east Kent.

“We perpetually have unemployment rates and average salaries behind South East norms. But airports bring huge investment and Manston is expected to receive hundreds of millions of pounds. This means new industries and a huge number of jobs in a relatively short period of time."

And he added to KentOnline that he hoped passenger flights could be on the horizon.

He said: "You could find some passenger services in due course which is the most exciting thing. Freight plans don't always do it for everyone, but the thought of passenger services as well would really be the icing on the cake.

"Airport capacity is tough at the moment. If you have a stretch of tarmac that is under used, I wouldn't be surprised if low-cost carriers go 'I think we'll go there'. There are lots of opportunities. I can certainly foresee that happening."

RiverOak says it plans to invest up to £500million into the airport and that it could create up to 23,000 jobs in the wider economy.

Its director, Tony Freudmann, said: "Today is a day to celebrate the culmination of years of campaigning. I would like to pay tribute to the extraordinary army of Manston Airport supporters who have never given up hope of seeing new life breathed into this historic aviation asset. And I would also like to thank our two dedicated local MPs, Sir Roger Gale and Craig Mackinlay, as well as the thousands of supporters who have supported us from the start of the DCO process and have long shared our bold and ambitious vision for the airport.”

Surveys, detailed master planning and design work will commence in the next few weeks. Construction, says RiverOak, will begin later next year, with the airport operating its first cargo services in early 2025.

Today's decision is just the latest in the long-running saga of the airport.

In July 2020, the government granted a Development Consent Order enabling the airport, owned by RiverOak Strategic Partners (RSP), to reopen.

But in February last year, it was officially quashed by the High Court.

It followed a judicial review launched by campaigner Jenny Dawes, which included evidence against Transport Secretary Grant Shapps' approval of a DCO, which went against the Planning Inspectorate's recommendation.

Then in October last year, an independent aviation assessor concluded there was no need for a new freight airport at the site.

The report was compiled by Ove Arup & Partners - the firm drafted in to examine the decision made over whether the new cargo airport near Ramsgate could go ahead.

But in a statement, the Department for Transport said: "The Secretary of State has carefully considered the Examining Authority’s report, the Independent Assessor’s Report, all representations received from interested parties pursuant to the 2010 rules and otherwise, all other relevant information, and the application and its supporting documents in deciding, under section 114 of the Planning Act 2008 to grant development consent for the application."

The decision was made by Karl McCartney, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport,

North Thanet MP Sir Roget Gale - one of the most vocal long-time supporters of reviving the airport, added: "There will no doubt be additional hurdles to tackle but I look forward to seeing wheels on tarmac at Manston again and all of the job creation and economic benefits that a revitalised freight and passenger airport will bring to east Kent and to the whole of the UK."