High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! RAF Manston was an RAF station in the north-east of Kent, at grid reference TR334663 on the Isle of Thanet from 1916 until 1996. The site is now split between a commercial airport Kent International Airport (KIA) and a continuing military use by the Defence Fire Training and Development Centre (DFTDC), following on from a long standing training facility for RAF firefighters at the Manston base.