Loganair says it is Heathrow Airport and not the airline that is behind the cancellation of flights in the run up to Christmas.

Islanders have been affected by the cancellation of nine days worth of flights between Ronaldsway and the United Kingdom’s biggest airport.

The Isle of Man Examiner contacted the airline after comments from readers saying that it had cancelled flights from Heathrow and seemingly given different reasons to various passengers for this.

Some readers said they had been told that the airline had lost its slot in the run-up to Christmas, while others said it was due to the impending strike action at Heathrow by some ground and border staff.

As a result of the cancellations, there is just one flight from Heathrow to Ronaldsway in the 10 days in the run up to Christmas. 

Loganair is operating two return flights a day between Ronaldsway and London City Airport during this period. 

A spokesperson for Loganair said: ‘As a result of restrictions on flights at London Heathrow, we are unable to operate nine of our planned Isle of Man-London Heathrow services during the travel period December 15 to 23.

‘This week, we have offered affected customers alternative flights on our Isle of Man-London City route, and either a free date change or the option of a full refund.

‘We recognise how very disappointing this will be for our customers, especially at this time of year. We apologise for the short notice, Loganair had been working hard to mitigate the effect on our flying program but have been unable to reverse the decision imposed by London Heathrow Airport.’

Heathrow had said it wouldn’t be imposing limits on flights this Christmas following talks with airlines and said that even with strikes planned in the coming weeks, most flights should operate as planned.

However, of the terminals most likely to be affected, the airport included Terminal 2, which is the one from which the Isle of Man flight operates.