Closed UK south east hub Manston Airport has found a new role, as a temporary lorry park to ease truck congestion on the M20 motorway.
The UK Department for Transport (DfT) has announced that the disused Ramsgate airport will be trialled as an addition to stage one of Operation Stack, which is put in place between junctions 8-9 on the M20, instead of using further stretches of motorway.
Operation Stack has seen huge queues of stationary trucks waiting to cross into France by Eurotunnel freight train shuttle services, the latter being severely disrupted due to nightly incursions at Calais by migrants trying to enter the UK illegally.
The UK's Freight Transport Association welcomed the news that Manston Airport could provide respite for local businesses and residents, but a permanent solution is urgently needed.
The DfT has stressed that the measure is temporary and will be implemented on a trial basis. Police will have jurisdiction to direct trucks onto the site, where stacking will be managed by the Army.
The Kent gateway, about 90km from London, was closed in May 2014 by the owner who said that its losses were unsustainable after a hoped-for expansion in full freighter traffic and low cost passenger carriers failed to materialise.
