COMMONWEALTH athletes who travelled to the Isle of Man in September have helped to boost passenger figures at Ronaldsway Airport.
Figures show that more than 60,000 passengers travelled through the airport in September – an increase of 1.36 per cent compared to the same time in 2010.
It is the sixth month running that the passenger figures have shown an increase.
Airport director Ann Reynolds said: "Without doubt the airport experienced a very busy time over the period that the Commonwealth Youth Games was held particularly as the stormy weather forced many people to revert to air travel.
"Most of the competing teams came by ferry so as a result of the high winds it injected a boost in airport traffic which ultimately resulted in an increase for the month."
She added: "There is no doubt that UK domestic air travel is currently very flat particularly short haul leisure travel which has been hit hard by UK austerity measures.
"The underlying trend is still that Isle of Man air passenger traffic is running at about 2010 levels."
During September there was an increase of more than 2,000 passengers travelling to and from Liverpool with more than 15,000 passengers using the Flybe and easyJet services.
The Manchester route however was down with 436 less passengers travelling than the same time period last year.
There were also decreases on the Blackpool, Bristol, Dublin, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Jersey/Guernsey, Leeds, London City, Luton and Newcastle routes.
Manx2.com saw a significant increase in the number of passengers using the Belfast City route and was also up on people travelling to and from Anglesey.
The Flybe Birmingham route also saw an increase in passengers as did the Southampton and Gloucester routes.
Aer Arran showed a decline in passengers using the London City and Dublin routes however this has been put down to the airline using smaller aircraft.
Direct flights to Europe also played a part in improving September's figures.
Infrastructure Minister Phil Gawne MHK said: "The feedback we have had about the holidays that have been flown directly from the Isle of Man this year has been truly outstanding.
"Residents now have a wide choice of quality holidays available virtually on a weekly basis from May through to October
"This is what the residents of the Island have been seeking for a long-time and I am sure that the 2012 programmes, that are currently being planned, will be equally well supported.
"At the same time we recognise our scheduled operators are continuing to offer some very good fares in order to attract passengers. Everyone recognises it will be another hard winter economically but we really do need the range of daily services to continue to attract both visitors and business to the Island."
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