The Isle of Man has been re-connected with Heathrow by Loganair, as the airline also increased its services from the island to London City airport.
The daily Heathrow service is designed to connect the island with the rest of the world, offering connections with Loganair partner airlines including British Airways.
The new schedule of morning and evening flights each weekday to London City will offer a day-return capability in each direction, plus a flight in each direction on Sunday evenings.
Both the London City and Heathrow routes will be flown under Loganair’s codeshare agreement with BA.
The regional carrier’s 72-seat ATR72-600 aircraft will be deployed for all Isle of Man routes.
The additional services mean that Loganair now runs six routes to and from the Isle of Man.
Loganair chief executive Jonathan Hinkles said: “As businesses in the Isle of Man start on their journeys to recovery from the pandemic, we know that connectivity to London’s central business district and trade with the wider world is of huge importance.
“After the tremendous efforts of our team in the Isle of Man I’m delighted to be here with them today to mark the take-off of our full schedules to London City airport, and to London Heathrow – which really is a route to the world in collaboration with our global airline partners.
“It’s a role we don’t take lightly though, and our focus now turns to delivering dependable air services to these London airports that will undoubtedly be the most important for the island going forward.”
Dr Alex Allinson, minister for the Isle of Man Department for Enterprise, added: “Ensuring the island is well connected by air is a matter of strategic national importance, particularly during this critical period of economic recovery following the pandemic.
“Securing additional flights to the London region for 2022 was an important interim measure and I am delighted that an agreement has been reached with Loganair to provide connectivity to both London City and Heathrow.”