THE number of passengers at Isle of Man Airport increased by just five in July compared with the same month last year.
A total of 63,520 passengers passed through the terminal - an increase of just 0.0079 per cent.
Airport director Ann Reynolds said: "As with many UK regional airports, traffic passing through the Isle of Man Airport has suffered for some time due to the tough economic situation in the UK.
"The matching of July 2010 last month follows a better-than-expected June, giving us some hope that passenger traffic is just beginning to show signs of recovery.
"However, we have to recognise that the buoyancy for the month primarily came from increases in north-west traffic and from the continued excellent performance of European charter flights during 2011.
"Many other regional routes continue to see declines and it is in these areas that we would like to see consistent improved performance."
The Liverpool route, with Flybe and easyJet operating up to six flights a day, led the way with a 20 per cent increase in traffic, generating 2,560 more passengers than in July 2010.
With only slight decreases on the Manchester and Blackpool routes, north-west traffic in total was up by almost 2,140 passengers.
Other routes with increases were the Manx2.com Belfast City service together with the summer service to Anglesey, Flybe's routes to Luton and Southampton and its Glasgow service operated by Loganair.
Notable decreases were recorded on many other routes such as Blackpool, Bristol, Dublin, Edinburgh, Gloucester, Leeds, London City and Newcastle.
These have been operating at reduced frequency or capacity compared with July 2010 as airlines have pared routes to match reduced demand.
A substantial boost to passenger figures has been that the Island has enjoyed its best choice and highest number of Mediterranean holiday flights ever during 2011.
After increases of 72 per cent and 61 per cent in May and June, July charter traffic was up again, this time by 57 per cent.
In total, the success of the direct Mediterranean flights from the Island has generated more than 1,300 additional charter passengers over the past three months.
These flights have been so successful that one tour operator, Atlantic Holidays, has introduced an additional flight to Madeira in October direct from the Isle of Man.
Expectations are high for the Freedom Travel/Flybe May to September series to Majorca, Menorca and Ibiza.
Infrastructure Minister Phil Gawne said: "To be able to offer nine direct Mediterranean destinations from the Isle of Man throughout the year totalling over 2,800 aircraft seats has demonstrated huge confidence in the Isle of Man market from our tour operators.
"Manx residents have responded magnificently to support this initiative and we are now looking towards the 2012 season with some confidence to be able to repeat, and perhaps improve upon, this great programme for 2011.
"That said, we are committed to working with our scheduled operators to encourage residents to support the daily flights operating to and from the Isle of Man as we need to ensure the range of scheduled destinations from the Isle of Man for both the leisure and business markets."
