Steady Improvement In Airport Performance Continues

The number of passengers passing through the Isle of Man Airport in October was 2.6% lower than in October 2008, giving further support to the view that the period of substantial, recession-hit decreases may be behind the Airport. Over 61,300 passengers flew into and out of Ronaldsway during October, 1675 less than in 2008. Moreover, the recovery in passenger numbers continues to be ahead of that predicted, giving Ann Reynolds, Airport Director, further reason for measured optimism for the future.

“Whilst there continued to be a decrease over 2008 passenger levels, all the indications are that the downward trend seems to be bottoming out.” said Ann. “Again, the airline operators have performed ahead of our predictions, which were for a 5% decrease, and this gives me further reassurance that in 2010 we will start to see positive and consistent growth once again.”

The strongest indication yet of a reversal of the downturn and a return to improving passenger figures, can be found by comparing the first five months of 2009 with the last five months. January to May period saw a fall of over 36,000 passengers – an 11.4% decrease over the previous year - whilst June to October was just 6,300 passengers down, or less than 2% below the same period in 2008. “We were earlier estimating a year end outturn of close to 7% down on 2008, but this could now improve to around a 5.5% reduction in passengers,” added Ann.

Reassuringly, the latest improvements are spread across all routes and airlines. Flybe’s Liverpool service recorded the highest passenger levels for almost a year and a half and this, together with a 17% increase in Manx2 Blackpool passengers, has meant that traffic to the key North West region was at virtually the same level as 2008. Aer Arran carried a record number of passengers on their London City route, helping to ensure that total traffic to London grew by 730 passengers, or 4%. In their second month of operation of the Newcastle route, Manx2 have revived numbers flying to Tyneside to 2008 levels and they also achieved a 16% increase in East Midlands’ passengers. This together with a strong Flybe performance on the Birmingham route meant that Midlands’ traffic was also at 2008 levels.

Charter traffic – currently a relatively small proportion of the Isle of Man throughput - saw a large decline, but even this sector of the Airport’s business is looking promising for 2010. The announcement in September by Freedom Travel of summer flights direct to Palma, Majorca and Mahon in Menorca has been followed by even more good news. Regency Travel, also based in Douglas, in conjunction with Aer Arann will be linking the Island directly with Paris in 2010. Their first flights will be operated in February 2010 providing 3, 4 and 7 day packages direct from the Island to Europe’s most romantic and diverse city.

“We are delighted with this initiative by Regency which will bring the French Capital and all it has to offer to within about two hours of the Island,” said Ann. “Whether it is EuroDisney, culture, great cuisine or simply a romantic few days away, Paris has everything. We are hopeful that the response will be good and more flights can be operated over the summer.”

Minister of Transport, David Anderson, also welcomed the positive news that was emerging regarding 2010 flights from the Island. “Having so far retained every route throughout the recession period – which is no mean feat for the Airport – I am delighted to see confidence building within both our Isle of Man travel industry and with our airlines,” he said. “We are under no illusion that the recovery will be slow and steady over the coming months, but it is important that we now look ahead towards measured route expansion and development in 2010. I very much hope that these early optimistic signs will result in a much stronger year for the Airport in the coming year.”

(Please see Monthly Air Traffic Summary for October 2009 on page 3)

Downloadable Documents
OCTOBER 2009 PASSENGER FIGURES (52 kb) Format:Acrobat PDF File OCTOBER 2009 PASSENGER FIGURES

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