THE owners of Manston airport confirmed yesterday it would close next week with a loss of up to 150 jobs.

The regional airport in Kent announced it had failed to find an alternative viable option for staying open following a meeting with its staff.

Efforts had been under way since March to find a buyer for the airport, which had suffered losses of £10,000 a day, to save up to 150 mainly part-time jobs.

The latest offer to buy the airport from an unnamed US firm was rejected on Sunday.

Following a meeting yesterday morning, the airport spokeswoman said: “I can confirm the collective consultation has failed to identify a viable alternative that would allow the airport to remain open.

“Proposals put forward by staff were carefully considered by the management and owners but these proposals would still have required ongoing substantial losses be subsidised and therefore were not viable.

“In the absence of other options, the decision has been taken to close the airport on May 15.”