IT was revealed in May that the volcanic eruptions in Iceland devastated the Isle of Man's air travel statistics for April.
The airport saw a massive 23.5 percent fall in passengers, almost 13,000 down on April 2009, caused by the closure of the airport on several occasions due to the volcanic ash clouds over Britain.
Airport director Ann Reynolds said the statistics were harder to take as the disruption happened just when the airport was showing signs of "steady recovery" during the early part of 2010.
And there was a knock-on effect caused by passengers feeling uncertain about future air services resulting in caution about finalising travel plans, despite air services returning to normal very quickly.
The director admitted that it had been the hardest period that she could remember for airlines and airports in the British Isles.
She said: "The aviation industry has endured crises from time to time throughout its history but I cannot recall such a challenging series of traumas as those experienced over the past two years.
"The recession has been deeper and longer than expected and just as the Isle of Man's airlines were beginning to rebuild traffic on our routes the appalling UK winter weather caused a further setback to the recovery.
"With spring settling the weather problems we were optimistic that April would produce an increase in traffic of about four percent but this has been completely wiped out by the effect of the volcano with almost a quarter of the month's traffic lost."
The success of the summer season was crucial for both the Island's airport and airlines.
Infrastructure Minister Phil Gawne MHK said: "Whilst Isle of Man air travel has endured a succession of setbacks in recent months the foundation of our air service network remains strong and the underlying trends in the early part of this year have indicated a steady return to growth.
"Our strategic approach has always been to steadily build the broadest range of sustainable air services possible to serve the Isle of Man's needs. The fact that the network has remained intact throughout these difficult times is a strong testimony to this approach and indicative of the great commitment we have from our airlines.
"The challenge remains to be seen in what progress can be made during times of the volcanic ash whilst ensuring that passenger safety is maintained and to work closely with our operators during these very difficult times."
