Airport Profile: Ronaldsway Airport, Isle of Man (EGNS)

The Isle of Man is an enigma for many people – “Do you mean the Isle of Wight,” some say, much to the irritation of those who know the island well. But when you visit, you realize what a fascinating place it is, and beautiful in a way that seems to be a cross between the English Lake District and Scotland or the far west coast of Ireland.

Nestled in the middle of the Irish Sea, from the top of its highest mountain, Snaefell (just over 2,000 ft), you can see the mountains in Northern Ireland, the Mull of Galloway in Scotland, Snowdonia (Eryri) in Wales, and the Lake District in England. A rare treat, but with clear air and a stiff wind to eradicate haze, the climb (or Snaefell Mountain Railway) up to the top is worthwhile – and it even has a café at the top.

The Isle of Man is surrounded by the constituent countries of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island (the UK), but is not part of the UK. However, it has long been part of the British Isles. For this reason, it was never part of the European Union but, somewhat confusingly, it is part of the UK for VAT.

In fact, the Isle of Man is self-governing through Tynwald, the oldest continuous parliament in the world. It celebrated one thousand years of existence in 1979, and you can still visit the Viking site of the ancient parliament in the little town of St Johns. Tynwald consists of the Legislative Council and the House of Keys, which has 24 elected Members (called “MHKs”).

From its ability to set its own tax rates, the island has a long history in offshore financial services but has been vociferous in ensuring it sticks to the letter of the law, managing to avoid the kind of adverse attention that other offshore jurisdictions have attracted (island representatives are quick to point out that any criticism the island has received has been unfair and inaccurate – and in this author’s opinion it has come across as TV producers looking for sensational stories).

The island, which measures only 33 miles by 13 miles, has a population of just over 80,000. Around a third live in its capital Douglas, which is situated halfway along the east coast. While ferries to Belfast, Heysham and Liverpool go from here, the airport – Isle of Man Airport, also known as Ronaldsway - is closer to the island’s old capital, Castletown, in the south of the island.

In fact, Isle of Man Airport (ICAO: EGNS, IATA: IOM) is only a mile to the northeast of Castletown with its main runway oriented 08/26, so the approach from the southwest passes over a little island called the Calf of Man, over the VOR and over Castletown. The other approach, to Runway 26, comes in over the sea south of Douglas. If you like to watch the comings and goings at the airport, mainly regional turboprops and easyJet Airbus A319s, a perfect vantage point can be had across the water on St Michael’s Isle, favorite of dog walkers and those waiting to pick up relatives from arrivals having seen their plane arrive.

There are no other commercial airports on the island, although the first airport on the island was on the flats of the north, nearer to the island’s second-largest town, Ramsey. This area has the former wartime RAF station at Jurby, now disused, Andreas, a small microlight/GA strip, and there was once an airfield called Hall Caine, near Ramsey, which is long gone.

For many years in the 1980s and 90s, the island had its own airline, Manx Airways, and later there was an airline called EuroManx. However, the advent of Flybe and easyJet saw an end to the island’s dream of having its own airline. While Flybe has now gone, easyJet gives the island its vital links to the UK – mainly London Gatwick, Liverpool, Manchester, Belfast International and Bristol. Loganair has been a stalwart in recent years while some former visitors come no more - or have disappeared along with EuroManx. The Scottish airline now operates to London City, London Heathrow, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Newquay from the Isle of Man, while Aer Lingus Regional (Emerald Airlines) operates to Belfast City and Dublin.

The Isle of Man Aircraft Registry (IOMAR) allows aircraft to sport the M registration, and some have taken advantage of this to have registrations such as M-AGIC. Started in 2007 by the then Director of Civil Aviation Brian Johnson, it quickly proved to be a success – even though it was limited to private aircraft, those not on an AOC. Later the registry also started to play a role in registering commercial aircraft (known as ‘Transitional Aircraft’ that had come off lease and were to be moved to another jurisdiction, before being re-registered. The current DCA, Simon Williams, has continued to develop the registry since taking over in 2014.

Private aviation on the island took another step up a few years ago when a fixed-base operator facility (FBO) was built, separate from the main terminal, and run by the Private Jet Company. This means private jets are now able to park, get fuel and refreshments and passengers can have VIP treatment – something corporate and high net-worth visitors from many parts of the world expect.

Isle of Man Airport commercial director Hannah Lo Bao said, during a meeting at the main terminal, “It’s a really exciting time for our FBO as a new investor has bought in and we believe the service will become world class.” This investor was already a user of the facility with their own aircraft and has seen a great opportunity to grow and develop this sector. It’s very early days but things like the limited ramp space at the FBO are likely to be increased, she suggested.

“We very much want the private aviation world but post-COVID getting the airlines back in has taken up a lot of airport time – so we need someone we can trust [to do a good job] on the FBO side.” Menzies Aviation is the overall airport handling agent, focused on the main terminal and airline operations. Also with business aviation, Lo Bao suggested more operators should look at the Isle of Man and pointed out that it is also very well located for tech stops.

Already the island sees a lot of business aviation traffic visiting to do business, often to complete paperwork related to aircraft purchases and registrations. “The M Register is an outstanding success and is delivering to the DCAs ‘Centre of Aviation Excellence’ vision statement,” said Lo Bao. “Its international reputation continues to grow and is founded on striking that fine balance between setting high aviation regulatory standards while delivering award-winning, excellent customer service.

“The registry adopts an innovative approach to its safety regulatory activities and, for example, was the first in the world to go completely digital, thus saving clients time and money, while maintaining appropriately robust standards. As a carefully managed extension to its core activity, the IOMAR has been registering Transitional Aircraft since 2009.” The financial services business aviation specialism has thrived since the aircraft registry was started, and the industry representatives have for many years held an Aviation Conference (usually in June) where various aspects of aircraft ownership, and other issues such as sustainability, safety, insurance, finance, tax, and the future of aviation technologies, are discussed.

easyJet has come back to serving the island strongly post-Covid, said Lo Bao, having stopped only when the borders closed. It now operates from London Gatwick, Bristol, Belfast International, Liverpool and Manchester. The airline has proved vital in giving residents and visitors affordable air travel to and from the island in Airbus A320-family aircraft.

UK regional airline Flybe had been just as active serving the island from around the UK and when it closed down the first time (Flybe was revived for a short time a couple of years later), the island lost many flights including a 4-a-day Manchester connection, and Liverpool, but according to Lo Bao the worst loss was of the patient transfer flights.

Although the Isle of Man’s only major hospital in the capital Douglas, Nobles, can handle most of the island’s needs, it can’t handle specialist treatments, so patient transfer to and from the UK is very popular. Luckily, Loganair was growing and came in to “take over the patient transfer side of things.” Now managed by ManxCare, the transfer service out to Liverpool in the morning and back in the evening is a PSO (part-funded by government) route. Loganair mainly operates ATR turboprops and is adding more as it phases out its remaining eight Saab 340s by the end of 2023.

Emerald Airlines, the newly rebranded Aer Lingus Regional, operates to the Isle of Man from Dublin and Belfast City (the airport that sits alongside the former Bombardier factory, now Spirit Aerosystems, and the Titanic Belfast at the former Harland & Wolff shipyard).

Among Lo Bao’s “wish list” are connections to Glasgow in Scotland (which is looking possible, she said) and she would “love to have Jet2 operate here and have the island as a holiday destination.” The British Airways BA CityFlyer link to London City was taken over by Loganair in 2020 and is served using ATR turboprops rather than Embraer regional jets now. Lo Bao admits LCY passenger numbers are “not so good yet post-Covid, only 40% load factor” but says Loganair’s Heathrow load factors are above 70%. For many years the Isle of Man lost its airline connection to Heathrow and many of the island residents would have been very happy to see it return, thanks to Loganair (which has a codeshare agreement with BA).

Another recent development has been Blue Islands starting to operate between the airline’s base in Guernsey and the Isle of Man. This is on a five-week trial with two flights a week (Tuesday and Thursday) between November 7 and December 7, 2023. Lo Bao said this is “very much focused on the corporate market.” She is hoping the trials will work out and services will be added to the summer schedule for 2024.

Holiday charters have also been taking off with CI Travel doing ‘Holiday Sun’ flights from the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands to Malaga and Palma in Spain with FlyDirect Holidays, with Faro in Portugal being added to the list as well next year. Tenerife in the Canary Islands has also been added on a six-week winter trial. Such flights are popular with island residents as they simplify journeys which would usually involve changing in the UK or Ireland, with the risks and extra hassle that can entail. Discussions are also ongoing with easyJet Holidays to operate service from the island.

Inbound traffic for the island tends to be for tourism, especially events such as motorcycling and cycling; the Tourist Trophy (TT) motorbike races are held annually at the end of May with a week for practice followed by a week of racing. The world-famous road course includes a fast section over the mountain, which some years is affected by the weather but on a good year draws large crowds. It runs below the Snaefell peak and the course (which is almost 38 miles long!) is easily reached from Laxey on the mountain railway, and Laxey can be reached by electric railway from Douglas. And if you happen to be lucky enough to be staying in Castletown or further south in Port Erin or Port St Mary, you can take the Isle of Man Steam Railway to Douglas first.

The airport infrastructure has been modernized in recent years, with a new tower and a RESA (Runway End Safety Area) built using massive stones shipped in from Norway as foundations, pushing the runway end slightly out to sea. Lo Bao said, “It’s early days, but the airport would also like to change the terminal – all the upstairs will likely become airside. We often have big peaks then it’s very quiet, and we’d like to add more retail outlets.”

In terms of airport passenger numbers, the record was around 850,000 a year pre-Covid. It’s heading for around 700,000 in 2023, with easyJet accounting for 60% of this number. “We are aiming to get back to pre-COVID numbers again by 2026,” said Lo Bao, who admitted that the present “high cost of living hasn’t helped.”

“We remain positive and we are constantly talking to airlines. We went to Routes Europe for the first time this year, in Poland, and had an exhibition stand.” Lo Bao was also preparing to attend the World Travel Market in London, where Visit Isle of Man had a stand.”

She admitted that the island has a lack of hotel rooms. “Hotel capacity is a struggle during peak periods and we don’t have the branded hotels – just Premier Inn in Douglas.” There are several “great” independent hotels, including the Comis Hotel (formerly Mount Murray) not far from the airport; and the Sefton Express across the road from the airport, providing easy accommodation nearby.

Although the financial services industry on the island is significant, in recent years online gambling companies, space companies and others have been established on the island. Meanwhile the cruise ship market “has really come back and taken off” after Covid, said Lo Bao, although generally visitors have to come from the large ships in tenders “and if the weather is bad, they have to pass us!” However, she believes many more of the cruise ships, which mostly start off in Liverpool, could stop off at the Isle of Man.

On the general aviation side, there is a GA ramp which is now run by Three Legs Aviation (the famous three legs of man is the national flag). “We very much welcome GA,” said Lo Bao, who was about to go into a GA forum. “At the moment, the GA ramp is just behind PJC, but we do need a dedicated GA area.”

She said there is one flying school. “Finally, we had one set up, last week. We had two pre-Brexit. Being surrounded by water and with tempestuous winter weather, it’s perhaps not the best place for the novice pilot but there are many GA airports within striking distance, and the runway has ILS approaches to both ends of the 6,000 ft main runway, 08/26 (the cross Runway 03/21 is just over 4,000 ft). Isle of Man Flying School is a satellite of Mona Flying Club on Anglesey, an island on the north coast of Wales mainly known in aviation for RAF Valley, where UK fast jet pilots are trained.

“As part of our [Airport] Master Plan, we’re definitely looking to do more for GA. It’s a myth that the Isle of Man doesn’t want GA – we do! Although pilots flying from the UK and Ireland and further afield, such as mainland Europe, need to file a flight plan and fill out a GAR form. But this can all be done easily on navigation apps such as SkyDemon or ForeFlight.”

Ian Sheppard is a Senior Researcher for AirportData/AC-U-KWIK in Chobham, Surrey, UK