The Isle of Man/ Transport

The Isle of Man is linked to its immediate neighbours and to the rest of the world by excellent air, sea, postal and telecommunications systems. The transportation of goods and passengers is speedy and unhampered by Customs and Passport Controls as a consequence of the Isle of Man´s Customs Union Agreement with the United Kingdom.

Air

The Island's Airport, Ronaldsway, is located near Castletown, 9 miles to the south of Douglas, and handled over 789,155 passengers in 2006.

Frequent flights are provided to and from London (Gatwick, London City and Luton), Belfast City, Belfast Inter, Birmingham, Blackpool, Bristol, Dublin, Edinburgh, Galway, Glasgow, Guernsey, Jersey, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Paris, Stansted and Southhampton.

Department of Trade & Industry - Aircraft Registry

The Isle of Man Aircraft Registry was established on 1st May 2007 as the first dedicated high quality business aircraft register in Europe. The Register offers high international standards, is supported by an experienced team of aviation professionals and offers a competitive cost structure for the registration of aircraft.

Its unique prefix ‘M’ offers owners the opportunity for distinctive registrations such as M-AGIC, M-YJET and M-ICRO. Unlike some other registers these unique registrations will be transferable to the owner’s future aircraft. To complement the aircraft register the Registry offers a secure aircraft mortgage register, identical to the United Kingdom legislation.

Sea

The Island´s principal port is Douglas which has deep-water berths and facilities for handling passengers, roll on/roll-off cars and freight vehicles, general cargoes and bulk oil and gas cargoes, and is a regular port of call for cruise liners. Peel, on the west coast, has a deep water berth and facilities for handling limited passenger traffic, general and bulk oil cargoes. Ramsey in the northeast is a drying harbour with a busy trade in general and bulk cargoes.

The Island´s main sea routes are Douglas to Liverpool, Douglas to Heysham, Douglas to Belfast, Douglas to Dublin and Douglas to Larne.

Heysham is modern port in the northwest of England closely linked to Britain's motorway and Intercity rail networks. The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company operates multi-purpose and freight roll-on/roll-off vessels on the Heysham route providing twice daily services throughout the year for passengers, cars and freight vehicles. The Steam Packet Company also has twice daily FastCraft services to Liverpool from April to October and Conventional weekend services during the winter.

In the summer months the Steam Packet operates additional Fast Craft routes for holiday traffic to Dublin, Belfast and Larne as well as extra sailings to Heysham and Liverpool with SeaCat and SuperSeaCat fast craft.

Department of Transport - Harbours Division web site

The Harbours Division has four sections: Harbour Operations, Coastguard, Territorial Seas Management and Administration.

The purpose of the Division is to manage and develop appropriate marine related commercial and leisure opportunities; ensure that the Isle of Man's maritime interests and obligations are addressed and provide facilities and services that meet the needs of our present and future customers.

Department of Trade and Industry - Isle of Man Ship Registry Web Site

The Isle of Man Ship Registry, recently renamed from the Isle of Man Marine Administration, is a modern flag registry with a strong emphasis on quality, high standards and efficient service, aimed at providing a quality service for today's discerning owner.

The Isle of Man Register is a component part of the British Register and is now a "Centre of Excellence" in the Irish Sea.

Roads

The Isle of Man has over 500 miles of public roads and many more miles of public footpaths.

Manx law on road traffic is similar to that of the UK. There is an excellent Public Transport system with Douglas and other major towns all have their own taxi-fleets. Several vintage forms of transport are available for visiting tourists during the summer months, namely a Victorian steam railway, electric railway and horse-trams that ply back and forth along the Douglas seafront.