flybe. (2002) (Exeter) has told the British media that it will shut down its route from the Isle of Man to London Heathrow and close the base on the island by the beginning of the summer 2020 season.
The daily route between the UK capital and the Isle of Man was launched in April 2019 and is operated with Dash 8-400 turboprops. flybe. said that as a part of the transformation under the new owner, Connect Airways, Isle of Man operations will gradually be taken over by Stobart Air (Dublin International), a member of the consortium.
The Irish carrier will deploy ATR72-600s to the Isle of Man. The first ATR - Avions de Transport Régional turboprop is due to replace a Dash 8 starting on January 5, 2020, while the second will be phased-in on March 29, 2020. At that time, flybe. will close its base on the Isle of Man and end all services to the island.
With 63 weekly departures and a 41.55% market share by capacity, flybe. is currently the second-largest operator on the Isle of Man by number of seats behind easyJet (London Luton). Stobart Air will continue to operate routes from the island to Liverpool, Birmingham, GB, and Manchester International, currently served by flybe.
