IOM

Yawn!

I don’t know the specific details but perhaps BA only wanted to operate IOM to London rather than creating a hub serving Liverpool, Manchester and London together which is what Loganair will do . It means they can interchange crew and planes by route . Maybe in future it might include Birmingham as well . If that proves to be the case then the investment now may well be worthwhile .

Glad to see some posts are a little more positive about the London Heathrow route now ! The island needs strong links to the capital with a strong onward set of connections this will be really valuable in the future if it can be maintained.

Indeed the last loss posted was nearly £10m but expected to be much higher as you say . The underwriting option makes far more sense and ensures the island remains connected . Actually I think you will find some patients have undergone specialist treatment in London . And during the lockdown London City provided the connection to London to ensure key workers could get to the island to have no link at all to London would not make any sense . And the agreement with Loganair works because they will manage the routes to Liverpool,Manchester and London as a hub with aircraft that are at least is

Arriving at some sort of agreement with a trusted operator was the sensible solution I would like to hear any form of alternative credible plan . Anyone who needs to go across for hospital treatment will I am sure be grateful ! And bear in mind Aurigny have posted losses of nearly £10m to ensure they as an island have connectivity . I doubt the underwriting costs will be anything like that .

So which airline does ‘like’ the Isle of Man ?

So leave the Isle of Man with no air connections then ? Or see what EasyJet come up with I know what will happen there !

Underwriting is the principle of ensuring the airline meet the minimum costs of operating if you listened Baker said they were sharing the benefits so Loganair are doing something! And how many Easy jets have you seen?

Well that maybe the case but at least Loganair have made the effort to try and serve the island. I fully recognise that there has been some government incentive but in these unprecedented times I think that is necessary to serve the island and keep it connected. Its been remarkable the number of 'low cost' Easy Jet fights I have seen on the island since March which shows how committed they are to the Isle of Man! And I say 'low cost' as they were the airline who remember back in March were charging over £600 return fares to Liverpool!

London City used to operate at 80% capacity and that was when it was operating three times a day . If London Heathrow has two rotations a day it should be able to keep going especially given Heathrow has far better connectivity . Let’s hope so as it’s excellent news for the island .

Its great news that Loganair will be flying into Heathrow and it appears it will be the jet lets hope this can continue and become a permanent route an evening rotation would also be great when the border eventually opens. I think the Manx Government and Loganair should be congratulated for making this happen.

What timings will the landing slots be ?

The Isle of Man needs strong connections into London . For the last 20 years it’s had a combination of London City and Gatwick . The London city flights have been timed to suit business with three flights a day early mid afternoon and late whereas Gatwick has been mid morning and very late leaving the island . Going forward an EasyJet option to Gatwick twice a day is not at all suitable for business travel . Either remain at London City perhaps reduce to two rotations a day or switch to Heathrow but Gatwick only would be a disaster .

I don't agree that lots of 'businessmen' will proclaim an ultra frequent service and expect to pay more no more than £20 return. The island needs a regular well timed daily early morning and evening service into either London Heathrow or London City. This is the service that has been provided by BA and was running at load factors of over 70% on an annual basis with fares of around £120-£150 return. Over 5000 on average were using this service a month. This service is required going forward at least twice a day to maintain strong connections into the heart of London at sensible times.