A review of the patient transfer service operated by Loganair is under way.

The review comes amid falling passenger numbers on many air routes from Ronaldsway.

The airline’s chief executive Jonathan Hinkles declined to comment on ‘rumour or speculation’ about the future of the patient transfer contract and government subvention of routes.

A Manx government spokesman said: ‘A review is under way between Isle of Man Airport and Loganair in relation to the patient transfer contract.

‘The service to patients will be unaffected while this takes place. The Council of Ministers is aware of the review that’s currently under way.’

The Scottish airline took over the patient transfer service in 2020 following the demise of Flybe.

It was underwritten by the Manx government during the Covid pandemic to the tune of just under £5.5m before Loganair was awarded the contract.

The government is also underwriting Loganair’s London City and Heathrow routes.

But public subvention is due to finish at the end of March next year.

The government spokesman declined to give details of the size or format of the subvention, saying this was ‘commercially sensitive’.

Latest passenger figures show sizeable drops on many air routes to and from Ronaldsway operated by Loganair.

Passengers numbers on the Birmingham route fell by more than 19% in May, Liverpool was 10.7% down, London City fell by 6.1% and Manchester dipped by 5.6%.

But this was before the chaos surrounding air traffic control closures which came in last month.

Loganair’s Heathrow and Edinburgh routes saw healthy increases in May. Figures for June have yet to be published.

Mr Hinkles said: ‘We have undertaken several changes to our schedule across all Isle of Man routes to accommodate the planned air traffic control closures at Ronaldsway as best we can.

booking

‘We have also contacted all customers with forward bookings on Loganair flights to and from the Isle of Man until August 14 to offer them the opportunity to change their booking to travel on an alternative flight without the normal change fee or difference in fare being payable, which means that if customers are concerned about the possibility of delays, we are offering the option to travel ahead of time to provide peace of mind around your journey.

‘We’ll continue working with Isle of Man Airport to ensure that every practicable effort is made to minimise the impact of these short-term air traffic control closures on customer journeys.’