Scottish airline Loganair, which begins flights to Liverpool tomorrow (Thursday) says it is in ’advanced talks’ with the Manx government about taking over Flybe’s Manchester and Birmingham routes too.

Reinstatement of the Liverpool route by Loganair on an interim basis was announced by Infrastructure Minister Ray Harmer in the House of Keys this week.

But Mr Harmer said there was a real fear in the aviation industry that the global coronavirus outbreak could destroy routes and services.

Unveiling the new Liverpool routes, Loganair chief executive Jonathan Hinkles said: ‘We understand how important this link is to the Isle of Man, and we have worked with the Isle of Man Government to provide this initial interim service.

‘We fully expect to announce an expansion of our services in the coming weeks.

‘We are interested in principle in providing a further range of services to and from the Isle of Man, including operating the Liverpool route on a permanent basis and are in advanced talks about restoring the Manchester and Birmingham routes, also lost in the collapse of Flybe.’

Mr Harmer told the Keys that he would normally be ’very bullish’ about the ability of our busy routes to attract a new operator, but the ’industry fear of coronavirus means that I am simply optimistic’.

The Minister said an announcement on the Manchester and Birmingham routes will be made as soon as something is agreed and hopefully this will be in the ’next week or so’.

The Liverpool route will be operated by 33-seat Saab 340 aircraft ‘wet-leased’ from Estonian airline NyxAir.‘Assuming we move the operation onto a longer-term basis, we would be introducing larger aircraft to the Isle of Man-Liverpool route,’ a Loganair spokesman said.Loganair flights depart from Ronaldsway at 7.45am and 4.45pm and leave Liverpool at 9am and 6pm.

Prices for a return flight to Liverpool have soared since Flybe’s demise – Loganair will charge £290.97 for a return flight departing Monday March 23 and returning the following Friday evening.

Easyjet is charging £392.98 for a return flight on those same days.

Loganair already operates services from the Ronaldsway to Edinburgh and to London City on behalf of BA CityFlyer.