EXTREME weather conditions have dented the airport passenger figures for November and will "seriously hit" December figures according to the Island's airport director.
The latest airport figures show a 5.4 percent decrease which can be "totally attributed to the combination of the storms earlier in the month followed by the recent big freeze with the unprecedented snowfall" according to Ronaldsway.
Storms with record-breaking winds battered the Island on November 11 which resulted in many flights being cancelled. Sub zero temperatures and three inches of snow at the end of the month forced the airport to close for 22 hours.
Airport director Ann Reynolds said: "It is difficult to accurately judge the shortfall in passengers as a result of the weather as some passengers re-booked on later flights and others cancelled their travel arrangements. However I estimate that this has probably resulted in a reduction of around 3,000 passengers in total over the month.
"Whilst this is a disappointing outturn given our recent improvements the decrease of over 5.4 percent is still some two percent better than we originally forecast for November back in the earlier part of the year indicating that the underlying trend towards a solid recovery is still very positive."
The adverse weather affected most flight routes but particularly the Midlands, Scotland, north east England and the south east.
Ann continued: "Scotland and the north east had heavy snow ahead of the Isle of Man and thus flights to these destinations were affected before we were forced to shut down operations at Ronaldsway.
"Similarly as the weather continues to hit UK airports, whilst we quickly returned to normal operation, further flights have inevitably been cancelled. There is no doubt that December figures will also be seriously hit."
Despite the bad weather the Liverpool route operated by Flybe and easyJet showed a substantial increase in November but the north west region still generated slightly fewer passengers than in November 2009.
The Aer Arran service to Dublin showed an increase of 5.7 percent and the Manx2.com service to Belfast City saw a massive increase of 28 percent due to the consolidation of their Belfast International services at Belfast City Airport.
Despite the difficult economic conditions in the UK and Ireland Infrastructure Minister Phil Gawne MHK believes the Island can attract the short break leisure market in 2011.
He said: "At a time when people in the UK and Ireland are having to tighten their belts with the consequential cutback in leisure travel to Europe and further afield the Isle of Man can provide good value short breaks that would benefit both our air and sea services.
"The summer schedules for next year are looking promising with the additional Freedom flights to Ibiza and Thomas Cook operating a 'TT getaway' to Palma during June we expect to see a marked improvement in traffic for 2011."
What do you think? Will the Isle of Man be able to attract the short break market? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below:
