THE Kent International Airport at Manston has signed a conditional agreement with EUjet which could see the creation of up to 100 new jobs in the short term.

The intention is that the airport would become EUjet’s UK hub with around 300,000 passengers using it in the first year, rising to two million by the end of the third year.

The conditional agreement, between EUjet and a subsidiary of PlaneStation Group plc, the airport’s owner and operator, is conditional on the airline raising the necessary finance.

The Irish airline based at Shannon, operates aircraft on behalf of Air France, provides aircraft to airlines and tour companies and runs charter flights for Europe’s premier tour operators out of Dublin, Birmingham, Bergamo and Milan.

The airline are negotiating arrangements with other airports intended to form part of the EUjet route structure and it is envisaged that by the end of this year 29 routes will be served from Manston.

The head of EUjet and former chief executive of Ryanair, P J McGoldrick, said: “During my time at Ryanair I identified the potential and negotiated the arrangement which resulted in Ryanair making Stansted Airport its UK hub.

“I foresee a similar opportunity at Kent International Airport Manston and EUjet.”

KM-fm's James Phillis has more ...