‘Our airport isn’t perfect - no airport is - but we are making tangible progress.’

That was the message by Isle of Man airport’s interim director Geoff Pugh during an address to this week’s Government Conference.

He said the airport’s recovery after Covid was ‘tough’ and it was still struggling to get back to pre-pandemic levels.

But Mr Pugh, who was appointed interim director in September last year, said things were improving.

Between January and August 2023 no fewer than 215 flights had been cancelled. Over the same period this year, 62 flights had been cancelled and two third of these were due to storm disruption.

Mr Pugh addressed some myths surrounding the airport - that the late Gatwick flight is always cancelled and that planes are grounded at the last minute while air traffic controllers (ATCs) have tea breaks.

He said ATCs have statutory breaks and the airport does not close unexpectedly - there are on average 23 breaks a month which are communicated in advance.

The interim director said between January 1 and September 18 this year, out of 476 evening Gatwick departures, seven have been cancelled.

Enterprise Minister Tim Johnston said the domestic airline market post-Covid was ‘pretty well decimated’ and there has been a slow process of ‘build-back’ of capacity.

‘It’s getting back to a position where we can be confident about scheduling and reliability,’ he said.

The conference was told the government does not subvent easyJet but it does subsidise Loganair on its core routes to London and the North West.

In a panel question and answer session, Mr Johnston was asked whether air passenger duty should be scrapped. He pointed out that the airport costs £6m net to run and APD brings in £3m to £4m a year.

Steam Packet managing director Brian Thomson and chairman Dan Clague also addressed the conference.

Mr Thomson said among the major milestones planned for 2026 was the renegotiation of the sea services agreement and a commitment to replace the Manannan fastcraft at a cost of up to £120m.

The Steam Packet hopes to have a replacement in service by the year 2030. A like-for-like replacement is not feasible, the conference at the Comis Hotel was told.

Mr Thomson said the estimated cost of vessel replacements over 25 years is £276m (including the £80m Manxman) but said this will be funded by a combination of the group’s profits and additional debt, at zero cost to the Isle of Man taxpayer.

Mr Clague said 2025 had seen an enhanced Belfast schedule but it was ‘no secret, we are looking very closely indeed at the Irish market and how can better serve it’.

He insisted the Steam Packet had made ferry travel ‘significantly cheaper’ and the ‘Kids Go Free’ initiative had cost the company £800,000 in lost revenue but resulted in a 14% increase in demand. The net cost was £342,000.

Infrastructure Minister Michelle Haywood said the new sea services agreement will ‘look very different to the old one’.