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Airport passenger numbers down again
THE number of passengers using Isle of Man Airport in August was down three per cent on the same month last year.
It’s the third month in a row that passenger traffic has recorded a decline of about this scale. Almost 64,000 passengers passed through the island’s airport in August, nearly 2,000 fewer than in 2011.
And it’s a far cry from the figures from May 2008, before the global economic downturn, when passengers numbers were just short of 71,600 – up nearly 4,000 more than in May 2007 and this despite the collapse of EuroManx.
But Ronaldsway bosses point out the latest fall was very much in line with the performance at many UK airports.
The consensus view is that the summer lull in air travel in the British Isles, including to and from the Isle of Man, has been in some part due to the Olympics. As Britain – including the island – basked in the golden glory of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, it seems that many decided to stay at home to enjoy the spectacle. Poor summer weather further dampened enthusiasm for leisure travel.
Airport director Ann Reynolds was nevertheless disappointed with the figures.
She said: ‘Whilst our performance is very much in line with others given this very unusual summer, having followed a general underlying trend of matching last year’s figures despite tough economic times, I had hoped that in July and August we would continue along these lines. Therefore the reductions of 3 per cent concerned me, although I learnt of a similar pattern emerging with UK regional traffic as a whole.’
‘Looking at how UK and Channel Islands’ airports have performed during July, primarily due to the ‘stay-home’ impact of the Olympics, I remain comfortable that we are still keeping pace with the overall trend of air traffic performance.’ But Ms Reynolds confirmed the underlying trend shows little sign of a recovery in air passenger traffic to and from the island. August saw small decreases in Isle of Man passengers across many routes, with the major impact from the withdrawal of the Southampton route, which had generated 1,800 passengers in August 2011. Substantial cutback in the frequency of Luton flights reduced traffic on that service by 900 passengers.
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Weather for Isle of Man
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 8 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 6 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: North west
