Blackpool Airport: Tickets on sale for passenger flights

Blackpool Airport reopened to small aircraft in December

Tickets are being sold for commercial flights from Blackpool Airport, months after its closure.

About 100 jobs were lost when owners Balfour Beatty closed the airport in October after failing to find a buyer.

In December, the airfield reopened with a licence allowing a limited commercial service but not large carriers with passengers.

The airport said it was in talks with the Citywing airline about resuming passenger flights to the Isle of Man.

In a statement, it said there were "a number of challenges" to overcome.

"When, and if, it is possible to make an announcement, the airport will do so."

Citywing has started selling tickets for the Blackpool-Isle of Man route from April.

The Citywing website is taking bookings for April onwards

Balfour Beatty bought the airport in 2008 and put it up for sale last August. It said the site had made a loss for several years.

After no buyer was found, the airport was closed with debts of £34.5m although Blackpool Council said more should have been done to save it.

They also blamed the airport's "onerous contract" with Jet2 along with a failure to bring in new routes.

About 110 staff were employed at the airport, which served 235,000 passengers in 2013.

It was voted best UK airport in 2009, according to a Which? survey.