DfE Didn’t Know Airline was Pausing Route

The gov department responsible for tourism wasn’t told that easyJet was dropping its Belfast route for the first quarter of next year.

Enterprise Minister Tim Johnston was quizzed on the route’s economic value by John Wannenburgh (Douglas North).

Aer Lingus (operated by Emerald) has no flights between the island and Northern Ireland from January 7 until March 3 while easyJet has no flights on the route between January 1 and April 1.

The only flights to the island of Ireland in this time is the Aer Lingus route to Dublin.

Tim Johnston said that Emerald hadn’t scheduled flights while easyJet made the ‘commercial decision’ to cut the route due to passenger demand.

He said: ‘The department has not undertaken any formal analysis of the potential loss to the Isle of Man economy and whilst any such impact is likely to be minimal given the low demand leading to the reduction in scheduled flights, it is appreciated that the loss of regional connectivity is never welcome.’

And added: ‘The department was not aware of the easyJet’s decision to remove flights to Belfast International during the first quarter of 2024 in advance of the announcement, however, it is more generally aware that airlines constantly review their schedules and demand profiles and will make commercial decisions based on their own assessment.’