Isle Of Man Airport

Departure from the Isle of Man airport was much more enjoyable that our experience at Dublin Airport’s Terminal 2 (see my review). This tiny airport offers a bar, a café, a gift shop, restrooms, Wifi, plenty of seating and gates all in close proximity.

Are you feeling lucky punk? Well do ya?
To return from Ronaldsway to anywhere else is a complete gamble in terms of how long your flight is delayed — flybe being the main culprits each time. An hour delay makes you feel like you’ve won the lottery, while the two previous times the delays were 5 hours and a total cancellation after sitting in it for an entire day.
The airport is easy to get through check-​in and security and doesn’t take much time which is a bonus — but it’s really not geared up for staying more than an hour in as there’s a costa, rubbish bar and newsagents and that’s it.
Unlimited free wifi and ease of access takes it from one star to two.

I’m upgrading to 4 stars for pure efficiency, free wifi, and quick access to taxis. Can’t really complain at all, plus it’s sunny today!

I have always loved the charm of these small regional airports. Despite being a small airport, the building and arrivals and departures areas are quite modern, clean and comfortable. It is obvious that they have tried to keep everything updated to the latest standards while still retaining its historic charm.
Arrival and bag pickup is really efficient. I thought that normally the security check-​in and departures would be too, however it was crazy busy when I went through and somewhat slow. It may be that all the evening flights leave at the same time. They do make an effort to call out flights to people waiting in the security line to ensure that nobody is forgotten and left behind missing their flight. That is the just the kind of niceness and friendliness you find in the Isle of Man.
We were traveling with an infant and the person checking us in realized this and also ensured that she waited for us on the other side of security to assist with our pre-​boarding the plane. I thought this was especially nice and unexpected.

This is a tiny airport flying out of the Isle of Man to numerous UK and Ireland airports. Because of it’s size, the whole process of checking in and departing is very simple. Check in, security, departure lounge — no queuing, and all accomplished within about five minutes, if only all air travel could be this simple!
The five gates all lead directly off of the departures lounge so there is very little walking involved.
Due to the small size, there is only one shop and one small café to keep you occupied while you wait to board, but for ease of use I’m happy to make this compromise!
There is also free WiFi — for this it wins an extra star!

IOM is a tiny airport, but what did you expect — the Isle of Man itself is tiny.
Inside you’ll find a small selection of shops — and yes they sell some last minute manx gifts. As a nice perk at this airport is free wifi throughout the terminal building — this is a great perk as even with a UK mobile I was considered roaming on the isle and charged for my data usage.
Baggage came exceptionally fast, by the time I deplaned and made it to the carousel my bag was already waiting. Well done IOM!
Usually the security in the small airports moves exceptionally fast — not the case here. It took well over 20 minutes to make it through the queue. There is a larger gift shop beyond security, so if you’re short on time go through security before you buy your last minute Manx Knobs.
Tip — if you fly Aer Arann to get to IOM, note checked baggage from LCY is free whereas checked baggage for the shorter IOM-​DUB flight costs 20 pounds at the airport (10 pounds online).