Isle of Man Air Services Ltd (IoMAS) was a small airline, based at Ronaldsway Airport Isle of Man, which operated scheduled flights to the English and Scottish mainland between formation in September 1937 and

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

in January 1947.

History

Railway Air Services Railway Air Services (RAS) was a British airline formed in March 1934 by the Big Four railway companies (the GWR, LMS, LNER and SR) and Imperial Airways. The airline was a domestic airline operating routes within the United Kingdom linking up ...

(RAS) had operated scheduled services to the Isle of Man from 20 August 1934. From 15 April 1935, the operating name used for RAS services to the island was "The Manx Airway". Olley Air Services, founded by Captain Gordon P.Olley, had formed a company named "Isle of Man Air Services Ltd" on 21 January 1935 with a share capital of £1,000. In September 1937, IoMAS was reconstructed and enlarged and the capital increased to £75,000. The three companies involved each contributed £25,000: Olley Air Services Ltd, the

London Midland & Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

and the

Isle of Man Steam Packet Company An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English. However, there is no clear agreement on what makes an island an isle or its difference, so they are considered synonyms. Isle may refer to: Geography * Is ...

Prewar operations

The newly created airline began scheduled operations on 26 September 1937 using an ex-RAS fleet of six

De Havilland Dragon Rapide The de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide is a 1930s short-haul biplane airliner developed and produced by British aircraft company de Havilland. Capable of accommodating 6–8 passengers, it proved an economical and durable craft, despite its rela ...

s and one

De Havilland Dragon The de Havilland DH.84 Dragon is a successful small commercial aircraft that was designed and built by the de Havilland company. Design and construction Following the commercial success of its single-engined de Havilland Fox Moth that had fir ...

. The initial frequency was two return services each weekday over the Manchester-Liverpool-Blackpool-Isle of Man route, plus one daily return service Liverpool-Isle of Man-Belfast. IoMAS flights to Manchester initially served Manchester (Barton) Aerodrome. Following the completion of the larger and better laid-out Manchester (Ringway) Airport, IoMAS services switched to the new airport from 26 July 1938. Scheduled services by Isle of Man Air Services ceased temporarily at the outbreak of war.

Operations in World War Two

IoMAS were permitted to resume a limited schedule of flights from 20 November 1939 serving the Isle of Man-Liverpool and Isle of Man-Belfast routes. However, the Belfast flights were soon suspended as a result of government orders prohibiting civil air traffic between the IoM and Northern Ireland. The Associated Airways Joint Committee (AAJC) was set up on 5 May 1940 to co-ordinate the air services of the seven UK internal airlines involved, including IoMAS. Services were suspended during the Dunkirk evacuation in mid/late May, but the civil aircraft were not used to repatriate troops because of the vulnerability of the unarmed aircraft. The limited services to the IoM were resumed on 3 June. On these and other UK services, government and military passengers had priority over normal traffic.

Postwar operations

IoMAS services gradually returned to a more normal pattern during 1946, and from 15 April, the airline's fleet of four Dragon Rapides operated seven return flights to Liverpool on weekdays. During the peak summer period, the airline also operated two return services each weekday from Ronaldsway to each of Blackpool, Carlisle, Glasgow and Manchester. The Belfast route was resumed on 12 November. The

Civil Aviation Act 1946 Civil may refer to: * Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights * Civil disobedience *Civil engineering * Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a m ...

created a nationally owned

British European Airways British European Airways (BEA), formally British European Airways Corporation, was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. BEA operated to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from airports around the United Kingdom. The a ...

(BEA) on 1 August 1946. The AAJC companies, including IoMAS were permitted to continue operating their UK routes until 1 February 1947, when BEA took over the aircraft, staff and routes of the four remaining airlines, including IoMAS, which then ceased to exist.

Fleet

de Havilland Dragon The de Havilland DH.84 Dragon is a successful small commercial aircraft that was designed and built by the de Havilland company. Design and construction Following the commercial success of its single-engined de Havilland Fox Moth that had fir ...

(1) (1937–1940) *

de Havilland Dragon Rapide The de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide is a 1930s short-haul biplane airliner developed and produced by British aircraft company de Havilland. Capable of accommodating 6–8 passengers, it proved an economical and durable craft, despite its rela ...

(10) (1937–1947)

References