Don Air kebabs and pizza take away unit at Stop24 Folkestone, situated left of the entrance, between “The Cafe” and KFC, opposite customer seating. Due to Don Air obtaining the same font and similar logo styling of “The Cafe” next door, it is likely they are both Stop 24-own brands, rather than independent brands renting the units. Don Air is the only example of kebabs being available at motorway services & the idea of it never took off. Walking past the unit, it didn’t smell nice and produce seems to be cheap. I can understand the appeal for truck drivers, who can have a full meal to takeaway before heading on. There’s also a randomly wide range of canned drinks available! Its theme colour is green. This pic evidences the large, open nature of Stop24. It’s a huge building, predominantly made of glass, with high ceilings and too much space for the custom levels it receives. Don Air has traded at Folkestone since 2018 and replaced Tugo pizza. Before Tugo, it likely was the former Burger 100 outlet. Many unusual brands have traded at Stop 24, including HMV, Whittard of Chelsea & EAT. Folkestone has always obtained a few unknown fast food outlets, but none of them have ever been popular. Don Air looses significant amounts of trade to more well-known high street names here, like Subway & KFC. It’s not an obvious facility at the site & has never specifically attracted trade off the M20. This is why Stop24 doesn’t signpost the facility from either side of the motorway. Folkestone very much skipped the era of large buffet restaurants, but instead compensates with these independent, takeaway outlets. Don Air may be “pushed to one side” soon as the site is undergoing significant changes, such as the fitness centre opening. The McDonald’s and Costa drive Thrus, which will open here soon, will pull even more trade away from this amenity building, creating a dilemma where the additional drive thru buildings are more profitable than the amenity building itself. Don Air has no customer seating of its own, so customers have to use the communal seating opposite. Don Air was totally empty during my visit. No customers, or staff, were present in this photo (was nice & easy to take). The time was 12pm, so just before the lunchtime peak. It likely gets busier between 2-7. Surprising it’s lasted as long as it has done, but always nice to photo motorway services anomalies as kebab shops cannot be found anywhere else.

Photo taken on 21/07/2024 by Tom Moon.

Assigned to galleries: Folkestone, M20, Stop 24