Manx Airlines was an English-owned,

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

-based airline that existed between 1982 and 2002. Its head office was located on the grounds of

Isle of Man Airport Isle of Man Airport ( Manx: ''Purt Aer Vannin'', also known as Ronaldsway Airport) is the main civilian airport on the Isle of Man. It is located in the south of the island at Ronaldsway near Castletown, southwest of Douglas, the island's c ...

Ballasalla Ballasalla () is a village in the parish of Malew in the south-east of the Isle of Man. The village is situated close to the Isle of Man Airport and north-east of the town of Castletown. History Ballasalla grew up around nearby Rushen Abbey. ...

Malew Malew ( ; gv, Malew) is one of the seventeen parishes of the Isle of Man. It is located in the south of the island (part of the traditional ''South Side'' division) in the sheading of Rushen. Administratively, part of the historic parish of ...

. An airline of the same name existed between 1947 and 1958.

History

Manx Airlines (1953)

An earlier Manx Airlines was established in 1947 as Manx Air Charters and renamed in 1953. It was based at

Ronaldsway Airport Ronaldsway () is a place in the parish of Malew in the south of the Isle of Man, between the village of Ballasalla and the town of Castletown. Features It is notable as the location of Isle of Man Airport and historically of RNAS Ronaldsway, to ...

and equipped with

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

Douglas C-47 Dakota The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...

s. The airline also operated the

Bristol Freighter The Bristol Type 170 Freighter is a British twin-engine aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company as both a freighter and airliner. Its best known use was as an air ferry to carry cars and their passengers over relatively sh ...

and its aircraft were equipped with passenger modules. One of this airline's Bristol Freighters crashed on 27 February 1958 in the

Winter Hill air disaster The Winter Hill air disaster occurred on 27 February 1958, when the Silver City Airways Bristol 170 Freighter ''G-AICS'', operated by Manx Airlines#History, Manx Airlines on a charter flight from the Isle of Man to Manchester, England, Manchest ...

. The airline was absorbed by

Silver City Airways Silver City Airways was an airline, based in the United Kingdom, that operated mainly in Europe, between 1946 and 1962. Unlike many airlines at the time, it was independent of government-owned corporations; its parent company was Zinc Corpo ...

in 1958 and then merged with

Channel Air Bridge Channel Air Bridge was a private British independentindependent from government-owned corporations airline specialising in cross- Channel vehicle-cum-passenger ferry services. Freddie Laker started Channel Air Bridge as a sister airline of Air ...

to form

British United Air Ferries British United Air Ferries (BUAF) was a wholly private, British independentindependent from government-owned corporations car and passenger ferry airline based in the United Kingdom during the 1960s. It specialised in cross- Channel ferry flig ...

in 1963.

Manx Airlines (1982)

The new Manx Airlines was a joint venture founded by

British Midland Airways British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

AirUK AirUK was a wholly privately owned, independentindependent from government-owned corporations regional British airline formed in 1980 as a result of a merger involving four rival UK-based regional airlines. British and Commonwealth (B&C)-own ...

. Services commenced on 1 November 1982 and the first flight was JE601, flown from its base at

at Ronaldsway, by its

Bandeirante The ''Bandeirantes'' (), literally "flag-carriers", were slavers, explorers, adventurers, and fortune hunters in early Colonial Brazil. They are largely responsible for Brazil's great expansion westward, far beyond the Tordesillas Line of 1494 ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. From 1985 until 1993, the airline employed the

Shorts 360 The Short 360 (also SD3-60; also Shorts 360)Mondey, David. ''Encyclopedia of the World's Commercial and Private Aircraft''. New York: Crescent Books, 1981. , p. 228. is a commuter aircraft that was built by UK manufacturer Short Brothers during ...

and the

Shorts 330 The Short 330 (also SD3-30) is a small turboprop transport aircraft produced by Short Brothers. It seats up to 30 people and was relatively inexpensive and had low maintenance costs at the time of its introduction in 1976. The 330 was based on ...

. A

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. The Visc ...

836 was operated from October 1982 until October 1988. Before retirement, the Viscount performed several 'champagne' flights, as it was the last to operate scheduled passenger services in the UK. Manx flew a

Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30-36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different o ...

during 1987–88 and bore "

City Hopper A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

" titles when operating the Liverpool-Heathrow shuttle service. In October 1988, the airline collected its first

BAe ATP The British Aerospace ATP (Advanced Turbo-Prop) is an airliner designed and produced by British Aerospace. It was an evolution of the Hawker Siddeley HS 748, a fairly successful feederliner of the 1960s. The ATP was developed during the 1980 ...

, replacing the Viscount. Manx also flew the

BAe 146 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Manufacture by Avro International ...

. Eventually, the airline owned seventeen ATPs. The airline was successful in acquiring Business Air in 1991.

Fleet

Manx Airlines (G-BSIW), Dublin, February 1993

Manx Airlines operated the following types of aircraft: *

Fokker Friendship The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...

Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (English: ''pioneer'') is a Brazilian general purpose 15–21 passenger twin-turboprop light transport aircraft designed by Embraer for military and civil use. The EMB 110 was designed by the French engineer Max Ho ...

BAC 1-11 The BAC One-Eleven (or BAC-111/BAC 1-11) was an early jet airliner produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Originally conceived by Hunting Aircraft as a 30-seat jet, before its merger into BAC in 1960, it was launched as an 80-s ...

Jetstream 31 The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin-turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the ''Jetstream 31'' from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream. A larger version of the Jetstream was also manufactured, the British ...

Jetstream 41 The British Aerospace Jetstream 41 is a turboprop-powered feederliner and regional airliner, designed by British Aerospace as a stretched version of the popular Jetstream 31. Intended to compete directly with 30-seat aircraft like the Embraer ...

**Series 100 **Series 200 **Series 300 *

Britten-Norman Islander The Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander is a British light utility aircraft and regional airliner designed and originally manufactured by Britten-Norman of the United Kingdom. Still in production, the Islander is one of the best-selling commercial air ...

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarted ...

* Embraer EMB 110 *

Embraer ERJ 145 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenger ...

Fokker F27 Friendship The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...

Piper PA-23 The Piper PA-23, named Apache and later Aztec, is an American four- to six-seat twin-engined light aircraft aimed at the general-aviation market. The United States Navy and military forces in other countries also used it in small numbers. Origin ...

Piper PA-31 The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engined aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also license-built in a number of Latin American countries. Ta ...

ATR 72 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR (french: Avions de transport régional or it, Aerei da Trasporto Regionale), a joint venture formed b ...

McDonnell Douglas DC-9 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

Expansion and sale

;Manx Airlines Europe In March 1991, Manx Airlines created Manx Airlines Europe in order to expand and fly routes within the United Kingdom. In 1994, Manx Airlines Europe became a franchise carrier for British Airways, its fleet flying in the colours of British Airways. ;British Regional Airlines In September 1996, Manx Airlines Europe changed its name to British Regional Airlines. In March 2001, British Airways purchased the British Regional Airlines Group (holding company of British Regional Airlines and Manx Airlines) for £78 million. The airline merged with

Brymon Airways Brymon Airways is a British former airline with its head office in the Brymon House on the property of Plymouth City Airport in Plymouth, Devon."World Airline Directory." ''Flight International''. 24–30 March 199961 "Brymon House, Plymouth Cit ...

to create

British Airways CitiExpress BA Connect was a wholly-owned subsidiary airline of British Airways. It was headquartered in Didsbury, Manchester, England, it operated a network of domestic and European services from a number of airports in the United Kingdom on behalf of Bri ...

. Manx Airlines ceased operations on 31 August 2002. Between March 1999 and the date of closure, the fleet was as follows: The last flight was planned to be flown by BAe 146 G-MIMA, from London (Gatwick) to

(Ronaldsway). However, due to technical problems, a sub-chartered aircraft was brought in to operate this service. Therefore, the honour of operating the last Manx Airlines flight (JE 818 Birmingham International to Ronaldsway) went to Manx-born pilot

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Paul Quine Stephen Paul Quine (born 17 January 1969), is a Manx-born commercial pilot and former politician who, on August 31, 2002, was pilot in command of the final Manx Airlines flight. On 27 August 2020 he was elected as a Member of the House of Keys ...

, who was in command of ATP G-MANB, which landed at Ronaldsway at 20:10 GMT on Saturday, 31 August 2002.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * *

External links

{{Authority control Defunct airlines of the Isle of Man Airlines established in 1982 Airlines disestablished in 2002 1982 establishments in the Isle of Man 2002 disestablishments in the Isle of Man Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom