London Manston Airport in Kent could soon be handling the likes of

Tiger Woods, when Royal St. Georges golf club plays host to the Open

Golf Championship. Business development manager Tony Knight said: “When the Open last occurred here, over ten years ago, we handled around 40 aircraft a day. These included Learjets and Westwinds carrying a combination of both players and spectators.

“There were also a number of celebrities flying in, including [Miami Vice’s] Don Johnson, who arrived in an executive-configured 727 with family and friends.”

According to Knight, the airport will handle around a month’s worth of business aircraft on each day of

the competition. “The additional flights won’t be a problem, because

at Manston Airport we can handle

a great deal more than we usually

do anyway.

“There’s plenty of space here and we simply give everyone two minute intervals to book in, so they’re not all arriving at once. TG Aviation handles any aircraft that are under four tonnes and anything bigger taxis down to the terminal building and we handle them there.”

Heli Charter, also based at Manston, will have around nine helicopters on standby for the event. Knight added: “The golf course will tend to know when the golfers are arriving and they’ll send their own cars to pick them up.

“Talking to various people, it

seems that this year’s may be the biggest ever because Tiger Woods is coming over to play, which will encourage more spectators.”

Manston has already received a number of bookings, mainly from spectators flying in for the day.

“People come over from countries such as France and Belgium and then fly back home in the evening.

“Quite often we don’t actually know which golfers are going to come through here though, because they will usually charter aircraft.

“There will be between 30 and

40 aircraft flying in every day and there’s nothing else in our calendar which raises traffic numbers to

this same level. It’s definitely the biggest event that happens in this area,” said Knight.

When asked whether the additional revenue would be reinvested back into the airport, Knight replied: “There has already been sufficient investment put

into Manston.

“We have a large passenger terminal and the infrastructure to handle a great deal of cargo.”