THE Isle of Man government is actively seeking agreement with major European airports to establish a direct air link, but the option of returning to use Heathrow again is not likely to happen.

That was the response from Chief Minister Allan Bell to a question in Tynwald yesterday asking about the possibility of Heathrow’s third runway being an option to re-establish daily flights to and from the Island.

In a written reply to Kate Beecroft’s question, Mr Bell said that Heathrow had not been targeted because the Isle of Man already had good services into London with three flights a day to London City and four times a day to Gatwick.

“A Heathrow service would devastate our current London routes,” he said, “making them not viable for the current service providers and for our business community these two routes and the frequency of these routes are really very important.”

Mr Bell said that all efforts by the Manx government had been to encourage an airline to establish a route to Amsterdam or Paris Charles de Gaulle.

He added, “A couple of years ago we came very close to securing an Amsterdam service, however the UK and general financial climate at the time meant that it did not come to fruition. 

“An international route is very much a step the government hope will come to fruition, in order to offer the international exposure and connectivity needed for the Isle of Man.

“Therefore, returning to the Honourable Member’s question, whilst recognising that a third runway at Heathrow would open up additional runway slots, that regions outside of the south-east of England could gain access to, no representations have been made with a) BAA plc, the owner of Heathrow Airport, b) the UK Civil Aviation Authority, the regulator of Heathrow Airport, or c) the UK Government.”