The TT fortnight saw well over 41,100 passengers using Ronaldsway during the period 27th May up to the 10th June, an increase of over 4% for the same TT period in 2011.
Last year around 39,800 passengers flew through the Airport, and passenger numbers for TT 2012 has only been surpassed in recent years during the TT Centenary Year back in 2007, when there were about 2,200 more passengers. Overall there were about 3,000 less seats available during the two weeks, as there was no Southampton service, fewer flights to/from Luton and the new British Airways service to London City only started with one flight a day on Monday 28th, as the full 3 flights a day service started on the 25th June. There were also several large aircraft charter flights during the period bringing visitors to the Island for the TT but also taking residents off on their “TT getaway” holidays.
Airport Director Ann Reynolds said, “The airlines worked very hard in managing passenger demand with aircraft size, and whereas Flybe used their large Embraer 195 aircraft on several key services throughout the period, other operators increased the number of rotations. easyJet put on additional Liverpool service on the Thursday/Friday/Saturday and Sunday and in addition, Manx2.com offered additional seats when the racing got delayed at the end so that some visitors could stay longer. In fact, flights were also very busy on the Monday after the racing with departing visitors however those passenger figures are not included for the period.”