Freeze blamed for Isle of Man airport figures

Some passengers were forced to cancel their arrangements

Freezing temperatures and snow have been blamed for a downturn in passenger numbers through the Isle of Man's airport in December.

There were 58,341 travellers last month, a 0.6% reduction from 2008.

The figures left a year-end total of 721,000 passengers at the airport, down 5.45% on 2008.

The airport said the decline was "significantly better than many UK airports during a period of unprecedented economic downturn".

'Suffered badly'

The airport said it had expected to see a rise during December, but some passengers were forced to cancel their travel plans due to the poor weather

Ann Reynolds, airport director, said: "Many of our UK destination airports suffered badly from snow and ice at a critical time for the travelling public - shortly before Christmas," she said.

"Fortunately, the Isle of Man Airport remained fully operational throughout the period and as soon as the UK airports opened, flights were able to resume.

"However, the disruption ultimately proved to have some effect upon our monthly passenger outturn."