Isle of Man Airport
Isle of Man International Airport Purt Aer Vannin | |||||||||||||||
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AMSL 52 ft / 16 m | | ||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 54°05′00″N 004°37′24″W / 54.08333°N 4.62333°W | ||||||||||||||
Website | airport.im | ||||||||||||||
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Runways | |||||||||||||||
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Statistics (2022) | |||||||||||||||
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Sources: UK |
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
Early years
Ronaldsway was first used as an airfield in 1928
Second World War
RAF Ronaldsway
The airfield came under
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
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 (
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
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
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,
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines operate regular scheduled flights to and from the Isle of Man as of 2023:[10]
Airlines | Destinations |
---|---|
Aer Lingus | Belfast–City, Dublin |
Blue Islands | Jersey [11] |
easyJet | Belfast–International, Bristol, Liverpool, London–Gatwick, Manchester |
Loganair | Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London–City, London–Heathrow, Manchester, Newquay |
Other tenants
Now-defunct regional airlines
Statistics
Year | Passenger numbers | |
---|---|---|
Total | % change | |
2014 | 729,703 | - |
2015 | 781,601 | 7.1% |
2016 | 791,651 | 1.3% |
2017 | 797,615 | 0.8% |
2018 | 787,257 | 1.3% |
2019 | 854,676 | 8.6% |
2020 | 162,898 | 80.9% |
2021 | 182,371 | 12.0% |
2022 | 562,490 | 208.4% |
2023 | 649,342 | 15.4% |
Route statistics
Rank | Airport | Passengers handled | % change |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Liverpool |
171,419 | 11.1% |
2 | London-Gatwick
|
159,721 | 6.6% |
3 | Manchester | 119,529 | 24.3% |
4 | Dublin | 38,738 | 53.2% |
5 | London-Heathrow | 33,182 | 62.9% |
6 | Bristol | 27,081 | 12.1% |
7 | Birmingham | 20,033 | 10.5% |
8 | Belfast-International | 19,975 | 9.3% |
9 | London-City | 18,266 | 7.2% |
10 | Edinburgh | 11,220 | 15.4% |
Ground transport
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.[15]
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.[citation needed]
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
- On 26 January 1935, Speke Airport, Liverpool, Merseyside crashed at Derbyhaven, Isle of Man, whilst attempting to divert to Ronaldsway during bad weather.[16]
- On 23 March 1936, United Airways Spartan Cruiser G-ADEL crashed at Ronaldsway. The aircraft was operating a mail flight from Hall Caine Airport, Ramsey. The aircraft was dismantled and departed the island on board SS Conister of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. It was repaired by its manufacturers and returned to service.[17]
- On 9 May 1938,
- On 14 September 1938, de Havilland Express G-ADVK of Isle of Man Air Services lost the starboard inner propeller in flight whilst operating a flight from Speke to Ronaldsway. The propeller embedded itself in the fuselage of the aircraft. A successful landing was made at Ronaldsway.[19]
- On 22 June 2023, a West Atlantic UK Boeing 737-300, G-JMCL, operating a cargo flight from Isle of Man Airport to East Midlands Airport suffered from a hydraulic failure resulting in the loss of nosewheel steering and degraded braking. The aircraft returned to Ronaldsway and made a successful landing. On landing, significant quantities of hydraulic fluid were spilt, disabling the aircraft on the runway and forcing the overnight closure of the airport and the cancellation of some flights the next morning.[20]
References
- ^ a b "NATS - AIS - Home". Nats-uk.ead-it.com. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
- ^ "Isle of Man Airport Monthly Air Traffic Summary". Department of Infrastructure (Isle of Man). 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
- ^ "Isle of Man Government - Isle of Man Airport". Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
- ^ Ritchie, p. 102
- ^ ISBN 978-0-907771-74-6.
- ^ "Runway Extended at Ronaldsway". Airports International. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
- ^ "Tynwald approves runway project". BBC News. 15 April 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
- ^ "TYNWALD GO-AHEAD SOUGHT FOR NEW AIRPORT CONTROL TOWER BUILDING". Archived from the original on 24 May 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
- ^ "Flybe to close Isle of Man base in 2020 but flights will continue". BBC. 12 September 2019.
- ^ Flight destinations and timetables, airport.im, retrieved 25 January 2023
- ^ "Isle of Man to Channel Islands direct flights return after trial". BBC News. 8 March 2024. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
- ^ "Citywing". Citywing.com.
- ^ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 26 March-1 April 1997. 86. "Isle of Man (Ronaldsway) Airport, Ballasalla, Isle of Man, IM9 2JE, UK"
- ^ "Isle of Man Airport Passenger Figures". Isle of Man Airport. 19 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
- ^ "Isle of Man Government - Bus and Rail". Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
- ^ Poole 1999, p. 12.
- ^ Poole 1999, pp. 13–14.
- ^ Poole 1999, pp. 14–15.
- ^ Poole 1999, p. 15.
- ^ "West Atlantic B733 at Isle of Man on Jun 22nd 2023, hydraulic failure". avherald.com. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
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.
External links
Media related to Isle of Man Airport at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- Current weather for EGNS at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for IOM at Aviation Safety Network