Isle of Man International Airport

Purt Aer Vannin
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorDepartment of Infrastructure
ServesIsle of Man
LocationRonaldsway, Malew, Isle of Man
Focus city forLoganair
Elevation AMSL52 ft / 16 m
Coordinates54°05′00″N 004°37′24″W / 54.08333°N 4.62333°W / 54.08333; -4.62333
Websiteairport.im
Map
EGNS is located in Isle of Man
EGNS
EGNS
Location on the Isle of Man
EGNS is located in the United Kingdom
EGNS
EGNS
Location between Ireland and Britain
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
08/26 2,110 6,923 Asphalt/Concrete
03/21 1,255 4,117 Asphalt
Statistics (2022)
Passengers551,941
Passenger change 21–22Increase 203%
Aircraft movements8,842
Movements change 21–22Increase 92%

Isle of Man Airport (Manx: Purt Aer Vannin, also known as Ronaldsway Airport) (IATA: IOM, ICAO: EGNS) is the main civilian airport on the Isle of Man. It is located in the south of the island at Ronaldsway near Castletown, 6 nautical miles (11 km; 6.9 mi) southwest of Douglas,[1] the island's capital. Along with the Isle of Man Sea Terminal, it is one of the two main gateways to the island. The airport has scheduled services to the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

History

Admiral Sir Percy Noble inspects RAF Regiment personnel during a visit to RAF Ronaldsway, June 11, 1942.
Manx Airlines Vickers Viscount taxiing past the airport control tower in 1988
Terminal interior
Sculpture by Bryan Kneale called "The Legs of Man" at the terminal entrance.

Early years

Ronaldsway was first used as an airfield in 1928[3] with passenger services to the UK starting in 1933, operated by Blackpool and West Coast Air Services (later West Coast Air Services). Further services were established by Aer Lingus and Railway Air Services (RAS) from 1934. From 1937 RAS operations from Ronaldsway to the UK were transferred to Isle of Man Air Services. In a 1936 expansion of the Ronaldsway Airport, workers discovered a mass grave believed to hold the remains of soldiers who died during the Battle of Ronaldsway in 1275.

Second World War

RAF Ronaldsway

The airfield came under Royal Air Force control at the outbreak of the Second World War. Known as RAF Ronaldsway, it was one of the few airfields that continued operating civilian flights throughout the wartime period.

The airfield was used by № 1 GDGS (Ground Defence and Gunnery School) operating Westland Wallace aircraft, the drogues from these aircraft being fired on from gun emplacements on St Michael's Isle (Fort Island) and Santon Head. An expansion of the airport during the War led to the discovery of the archaeological remains of a Neolithic settlement belonging to what is now called the Ronaldsway culture, in honour of this site.

RAF operations continued until 1943 when the airfield was handed over to the Admiralty for further development as a Fleet Air Arm training station.

HMS Urley

Now a naval air station, RNAS Ronaldsway, the airport was taken out of commission in 1943 for almost twelve months of extensive development undertaken by John Laing & Son.[4] By the summer of 1944 the airfield had evolved from a grass landing area with a few hangars to a four runway airfield with the infrastructure to house and operate three training squadrons using Barracuda torpedo bombers.

Commissioned as HMS Urley (Manx for Eagle) by the Admiralty on 21 June 1944, with accounts handled by HMS Valkyrie, flying recommenced on 15 July 1944.[5] The airfield's main role was that of a torpedo working-up station. No. 1 OTU consisted of 710, 713 and 747 Squadrons (Fleet Air Arm) and these operated until the cessation of hostilities in 1945. The base was paid off on 14 January 1946, and transferred to 'Care and Maintenance' under HMS Blackcap.[5] The nominal depot ship from 21 June 1944 was a 32' cutter named XXII, which itself was constructed in 1937.[5]

Post-war

The airport reverted to solely civilian flying almost immediately after the war, but the airfield remained in Admiralty possession until sold to the Isle of Man Government for £200,000 in 1948, far short of the £1 million that the UK Government had spent on constructing the airport buildings and runways, plus the £105,000 that was paid by the Admiralty in 1943 to purchase the site. Several Manx-based airlines were formed in the early postwar years to operate scheduled and charter services to the UK mainland.

Development since the 2000s

A project by Ellis Brown Architects began in November 1998 to extend the airport and improve the facilities available to passengers. In March 2000 the new extension was opened, providing a new landside catering outlet, arrivals area, baggage hall, and departure lounge. The existing part of the airport was refurbished during this time to provide improved check-in facilities and offices, linked to the extension with a new airport entrance. During the extension and renovation period, the iconic Three Legs of Man sculpture adorning the airport's façade was also refurbished. In March 2006 funding for a further extension was granted by Tynwald to increase the number of departure gates, with work due for completion in summer 2007.

In April 2008 Tynwald granted a major runway extension and resurfacing project at the airport. The runway will be extended by 245 m (804 ft) out into the Irish Sea by the construction of a rock-armoured promontory.[6] It was part of a £44m plan which also included resurfacing of the runway during summer 2008 and the extension program that will commence in spring 2008 work was completed by early 2011. It has emerged that the actual runway take-off length was underestimated by 160 metres in the £1.5 million feasibility study. Whilst the study originally looked into the aviation marketing implication of runway length, airport management has now denied that the extension is for the use of heavier aircraft in the future, stating that the resurfacing and extension are to comply with the latest international safety standards.[7] There has been a significant overspend on the project due to poor foreign exchange management of the Euro-denominated components of the costs. It is thought that the Manx Treasury Minister may have been referring to the expense of the runway and the additional £6,515,000 control tower project[8] when he stated in his 2009 Budget speech that the Isle of Man could no longer afford "Rolls-Royce" projects. Following the completion of the runway extension project the largest aircraft that can operate fully at Ronaldsway is the Boeing 757.

In September 2019, Flybe announced it would shut down its base operations at the airport by Spring 2020.[9]

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operated regular scheduled flights to and from the Isle of Man in 2023:[10]

AirlinesDestinations
Aer Lingus Belfast–City, Dublin
easyJet Belfast–International, Bristol, Liverpool, London–Gatwick, Manchester
Loganair Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London–City, London–Heathrow, Manchester, Newquay

Other tenants

Now-defunct regional airlines Citywing[11] and Manx Airlines[12] had their head offices on the airport property. The Manx Military and Aviation Museum is situated next to the airport and has exhibits and information about the history of aviation on the island.

Statistics

YearPassenger numbers
Total% change
2014 729,703-
2015 781,601Increase 7.1%
2016 791,651Increase 1.3%
2017 797,615Increase 0.8%
2018 787,257Decrease 1.3%
2019 854,676Increase 8.6%
2020 162,898Decrease 80.9%
2021 182,371Increase 12.0%
2022 562,490Increase 208.4%
2023 649,342 Increase 15.4%

Route statistics

Busiest routes to and from Isle of Man Airport (2022)[13]
RankAirportPassengers handled % change
2021 / 22
1Liverpool154,364 Increase 151.5%
2London Gatwick 149,998Increase 206.0%
3Manchester96,143 Increase 227.5%
4Bristol30,799Increase 191.4%
5Dublin25,287IncreaseNew route
6Birmingham22,291Increase 140.2%
7Belfast International22,016Increase 98.1%
8London Heathrow20,785Increase 200.0%
9London City16,602IncreaseNew route
10Edinburgh9,762Increase 160.6%

Ground transport

Ronaldsway railway halt with a train arriving from Douglas.

Bus services are provided by Bus Vannin, formerly Isle of Man Transport, to Douglas, Castletown, Colby, Port Erin, Port St Mary, Peel, St John's, Foxdale and Castletown.[14]

Ronaldsway railway station on the Isle of Man Railway is roughly 600 metres walk from the airport, and is sometimes used by air passengers.

Airport emergency services

Fire and rescue service

In common with most international airports, the Isle of Man Airport maintains its own fire service. This service cooperates closely with the Isle of Man Fire and Rescue Service, although it is independent, with its own management and chief officer. For joint operational purposes, and for the assigning of radio call signs to appliances, the airport fire station is known as "station 9", in a common series with the IoM Fire & Rescue Service, whose seven fire stations are numbered from "station 1" to "station 7" inclusive. The airport fire station is a large five-bay purpose-built structure with duty rooms and offices. The service operates a fleet including two Carmichael Cobra 2 major foam tenders, a third (smaller) major foam tender, a standard duty pump (principally for building fires), and a 4x4 Land Rover. A further major appliance (Iturri Torro) is on order.

Police and security service

The Isle of Man Airport Police was a small independent police service providing security and policing at the airport site, with warranted constables, known as "aviation security officers" (ASO). Under Manx law ASOs had full police powers, including the power of arrest, whilst on airport property. For major crimes the airport police was supported by the Isle of Man Constabulary. The airport police were disbanded at the end of September 2019, with the responsibility for airfield security passing to a private contractor.

Accidents and incidents

References

  1. 1 2 "NATS - AIS - Home". Nats-uk.ead-it.com. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  2. ↑ "Isle of Man Airport Monthly Air Traffic Summary". Department of Infrastructure (Isle of Man). 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  3. ↑ "Isle of Man Government - Isle of Man Airport". Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  4. ↑ Ritchie, p. 102
  5. 1 2 3 Warlow, Ben (2000). Shore Establishments of the Royal Navy. Maritime Books. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-907771-74-6.
  6. ↑ "Runway Extended at Ronaldsway". Airports International. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  7. ↑ "Tynwald approves runway project". BBC News. 15 April 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  8. ↑ "TYNWALD GO-AHEAD SOUGHT FOR NEW AIRPORT CONTROL TOWER BUILDING". Archived from the original on 24 May 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "Flybe to close Isle of Man base in 2020 but flights will continue". BBC. 12 September 2019.
  10. ↑ Flight destinations and timetables, airport.im, retrieved 25 January 2023
  11. ↑ "Citywing". Citywing.com.
  12. ↑ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 26 March-1 April 1997. 86. "Isle of Man (Ronaldsway) Airport, Ballasalla, Isle of Man, IM9 2JE, UK"
  13. ↑ "Monthly air traffic summary December 2023" (PDF). Isle of Man Airport. 13 January 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ↑ "Isle of Man Government - Bus and Rail". Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  15. ↑ Poole 1999, p. 12.
  16. ↑ Poole 1999, pp. 13–14.
  17. ↑ Poole 1999, pp. 14–15.
  18. ↑ Poole 1999, p. 15.

Bibliography

  • Poole, Stephen (1999). Rough Landing or Fatal Flight. Douglas: Amulree Publications. ISBN 1-901508-03-X.
  • Ritchie, Berry (1997). The Good Builder: The John Laing Story. James & James.

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