Blackpool Airport: Flights to Isle of Man being considered

Commercial flights from Blackpool Airport stopped in October 2014

The possibility of reinstating commercial flights from Blackpool Airport to the Isle of Man is being explored, a council leader has said.

Lynn Williams, of Blackpool Council, said discussions were ongoing regarding flights to the island.

It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested the airport should reopen for holidaymakers.

But Ms Williams said the future of the airport was not a political issue but "purely about financial risk."

She added that the resort's Squires Gate Lane air terminal, which closed to commercial flights in 2014, was "competing with the likes of Manchester and Liverpool, both of which have benefited from massive investment and subsidy".

She confirmed that talks were ongoing about the prospect of flights to the Isle of Man.

During a visit to Blackpool Airport in June, Mr Johnson challenged the council, which owns the airport, to look again at the possibility of bringing commercial flights back, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Financial losses

Ms Williams said the council could look at reinstating flights if the government was willing to underwrite its losses.

She said: "I agree that flying in and out of Blackpool to European destinations was a great experience with no queues and rapid arrival and departure in an uncrowded terminal.

"I totally understand why people would like the opportunity to do that again, but it is the fact that there were no queues that is the problem.

"At our peak in 2007, the airport lost £2m and during Balfour Beattie's 10-year ownership, it lost about £27m."

She added: "If the government was willing to underwrite losses, then absolutely we can look at the reinstatement of European flights."

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