THE island’s vital airlink to London City will be restored this month - much to the relief of the Isle of Man business community.
And the move sees the return of British Airways to Ronaldsway after a gap of some five years.
There have been no direct flights between the island and London City airport since mid April after Irish carrier Aer Arann pulled the plug on the route claiming it was ‘not a strategic fit’ with its new business model.
Now British Airways has announced it is to resume flights from the Isle of Man, with the launch of a daily week day service from Ronaldsway to London City Airport on May 28. This will increase to three flights each weekday plus one on Saturdays and two on Sundays from June 25.
Services will be operated by its wholly owned subsidiary BA CityFlyer, with fares starting from £59 one-way.
Flights will depart from the Isle of Man at 7.25am, 1pm and 5.40pm with return flights from London City at 9.15am, 2.50pm and 7.30pm.
The new service will launch using a 76-seat Embraer 170 aircraft.
From the end of June flights will be operated by a leased 50 seat Eastern Airways Saab 2000. The aircraft will be painted in British Airways livery and crew will wear British Airways uniform and customers will receive the full British Airways service.
British Airways last operated flights from the Isle of Man five years ago. They stopped when the regional airline business BA Connect was sold to Flybe.
Luke Hayhoe, British Airways general manager commercial, said: ‘We are delighted that British Airways will be back in the Isle of Man with the launch of this new important air link from the Island. Our schedule means that customers can enjoy a full business day with conveniently timed flights direct to the heart of the capital or they can easily connect with our onward services.’