Passenger numbers using Ronaldsway airport increased last year.

Figures released by the ports division show total passenger numbers rose 2.1% from 847,251 in 2018 to 865,617 in 2019.

Loganair, which operates flights to Edinburgh and Glasgow, saw the biggest increase in traffic, up 29.1% from 6,244 in 2018 to 8,060 last year.

But that number was dwarfed by easyJet, which carried 395,509 passengers last year on its routes to Liverpool, Gatwick, Bristol, Belfast and Luton - up 6.5% on the previous year.

BA Cityflyer was down 8.8% on its London City route in 2019, to 56,032 from 61,430 in 2018.

Flybe, despite its current difficulties, also had a reasonable 2019, with passengers up 1.8% on 2018, from 343,216 to 349,289.

Figures for December alone, however, show a different picture for Flybe, with passenger numbers down on every one of its routes - Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham.

Its Liverpool route, for example, was down 24% on the same month in 2018 in contrast to easyJet on the same route which was up 16.1%.

Flybe’s Manchester route was down 12.6% in December, compared with the same month in 2018, and its Birmingham route was down 5.7%.