Following the issuing of a press statement providing Citywing’s views in respect to the risks to the lifeline air services operating from the Isle of Man, the Minister of Infrastructure is keen to put the record straight.
 
On 16 May the Citywing press release cited recent press reports that Flybe had entered discussions with other airlines about the possibility of the sale of their London Gatwick (LGW) slots and the risk that this may result in the withdrawal of Flybe from the Isle of Man (IOM) to LGW route.
 
Citywing suggested in their statement that it is the “lack of control” by the Isle of Man Government of its air links that has placed the Gatwick service at risk, drawing comparisons with the situation with Guernsey’s Gatwick route.
 
A key point made by the Managing Director of Citylink, Mr David Buck, was that “Guernsey realised the danger of losing its Gatwick slots and secured them”. He furthermore suggested that “Now is the time for the Isle of Man to regain control of its air links.”
 
Minister of Infrastructure Hon David Cretney said “It is important to clarify the issue of securing runway slots as Mr Buck’s comments are factually incorrect. No state or airport can own or “secure” slots at another airport.  Slots can only be owned by an airline. Neither Guernsey Government nor Guernsey Airport is able to “secure” or own runway slots. The States of Guernsey owns the airline Aurigny and it is the airline which owns slots at Gatwick. The Isle of Man Government is therefore clearly not in the same position – Guernsey, as the Island’s Government, does not own an airline”. 
 
The Minister went on “The Citywing press release also referred to the apparent value in abandoning the Open Skies Policy in favour of a regulatory system in terms of protecting the Island’s network, with particular reference to the Gatwick service. It is important to first of all clarify that any form of regulatory system will not provide any guarantees in terms of any route being sustained. As we have seen with the news that Flybe has sold its runway slots to EasyJet, their decision has come due, in their press release, to the punitive pricing structure Gatwick Airport has levied at Flybe.
 
Secondly, in order to refuse any application to operate a route, a regulatory panel would have to provide very clear reasons for refusal based upon what is considered to be in the best interests of the Island.  It is therefore difficult to understand how, in the case of EasyJet applying to operate the LGW route, a refusal in this case would have been justified as being in the Island’s best interests. As things have turned out, the Isle of Man is in the advantageous position of having EasyJet on the Gatwick route, and myself and Department Officials are in dialogue regarding the summer next year. Most other airports which currently have a Flybe served Gatwick route are not in the same position, and it is very time consuming and costly to start up a new route.
 
Finally, I hope that Mr Buck will agree that the Department has worked closely with all of its operators, including Citywing who have benefitted from the open skies policy, to encourage and assist long term route development.  In fact, the ability for Manx2.com, now Citywing, to successfully operate today on their two primary routes, Blackpool and Belfast, has been down to a combination of being able to initially access these routes in competition with other airlines (due to Open Skies) and continued support and encouragement from the Airport and Department of Infrastructure.”