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Positive signs as August Airport passengers top 2009 levels 13 September 2010 After months of reporting decreases in Isle of Man Airport passenger numbers, the August results show a slight increase over last year. 65,597 passengers passed through the Airport, 45 more than in August 2009. The ability for the Airport to match the previous year’s passenger figures for the month provided Airport Director Ann Reynolds with further evidence that the slow recovery is continuing. ‘Achieving last year’s traffic level is a reassuring milestone for us,’ she said. ‘August is a particularly important month as it is traditionally the second busiest month after the TT month of June, and a shortfall can deeply affect the year’s performance. We still have a long way to go and we are expecting traffic will still fall short of 2009 levels for a number of the remaining months of the year, but August has given us a reason to be cautiously optimistic.’ Passengers flying between the Isle of Man and the key Northwest region of the UK showed an increase of nearly 1,100 passengers with Liverpool, flown by Flybe and easyJet, generating almost 3,000 more passengers than in August 2009, an increase of 27.5%. However, there have been resultant reductions in traffic in both the Manchester and Blackpool routes, reducing figures by 13% to 14%. London traffic has also increased by 1.5%, with Flybe’s routes to Gatwick and Luton selling two-thirds of seats over the month and both showing improvements of about 7%. Scottish routes also showed a small increase, with Edinburgh continuing to strengthen, whilst the boost to services to South and South West England provided by the Bristol route was more than balanced by reductions to the Southampton and Gloucester services and the withdrawal of Newquay. Similarly, in the Northeast, Manx2.com increased Newcastle traffic by over 50% whilst their Leeds route saw a 19% decrease. Charter traffic also grew massively during August, with the very popular Freedom Holidays weekly summer flights to Majorca direct from the Isle of Man helping to increase charter numbers fivefold. Ann also emphasised that whilst international air transport has bounced back after the recession and the ash crisis, UK domestic air traffic has been very slow to recover. ‘Confidence has rapidly returned to the global air transport scene and, whilst the domestic markets have not yet responded in the same way, it is expected that this will follow slowly over time,’ she added. ‘The Isle of Man is essentially part of the UK domestic air travel scene and continues to follow slow domestic recovery trends. However, I believe that we can use this opportunity to stimulate interest and awareness in the Island for both the business and leisure markets to help to lead the way to faster recovery.’ Minister for Infrastructure Phil Gawne MHK also recognizes this opportunity to draw new traffic to the Island. ‘The Island has a huge amount to offer, both in terms of the leisure market and business development,’ he said. ‘I am acutely aware that the ability to capitalize upon these opportunities depends very much upon the range and quality of air services we offer and, in turn, the future of our air services depends upon the buoyancy and growth of the Isle of Man’s leisure and business economy. We must therefore work together to support the future of the Isle of Man’s air communications.’ More stories >>>
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