No Instant Fix

After another period of anger from passengers travelling through Ronaldsway, the airport managers have sought to outline when and why the runways have to close.

Simply put, it closes because of a lack of staff.

To meet the minimum requirements for ATCO rest periods whilst maximising training availability, the runways have to close.

The runways are currently closing during the following times each day, a total of 3.25 hours a day:

A post one Facebook said: ‘We’ve needed short-term closures for some time because of the numbers of qualified staff available, but recently this number has changed again. When we are open, we also need to maximise every opportunity to train. We do everything we can to minimise the disruption to the flying public and we discuss and review these decisions a lot!’

Air traffic controllers takes a long time; (three to four years for student controllers with no ATC background) and even controllers relocating from other airports can take 12-18 months or more depending on their experience.

The post added: ‘Air traffic controllers are also in high demand across the UK, so attracting them to our lovely island can be a challenge. We know mentioning BREXIT and COVID can make some people roll their eyes, but both of these have also played a role in our challenges.

‘We’ve already welcomed one experienced controller who is busy training and we hope to have another in the Autumn, both of whom replace staff leaving us. We’ll also be welcoming 3 new student air traffic controllers in the Autumn following a very competitive and popular local recruitment campaign. These new staff members are excellent news, but we mustn’t overload our training staff who need to keep their own skills sharp.’

Operators also confirmed that the recent issues are likely to continue through the summer month. So basically the only people this is good news for is the Steam Packet.