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Ronaldsway airport on the Isle of Man is usually quiet, with a handful of arrivals and departures from England, Scotland and Ireland. But this month, three airlines are set to launch services to the Irish Sea island, with return fares from London below £50. Two of them are foreign carriers taking advantage of the "open skies" policy - and the third is a new start-up created by a teenager.
The new airline is AlphaOne (08703 833 324; www.flyalpha1.com), founded by Martin Halstead, aged 19. Sir Richard Branson has been offering him advice. The £600,000 of capital behind AlphaOne includes financial backing from a Dubai banking family. The airline has bought a Jetstream 31 aircraft, and has recruited a dozen pilots.
Delays in training have pushed back the proposed start date to Monday, 21 November, when a link to Southampton is due to begin. Fares will start at £99 return. Blackpool and Edinburgh are set to follow.
The new airline will offer plenty of frills, says Mr Halstead: "Our offering is very similar to Virgin's, with champagne included".
The Flemish airline VLM began daily flights from London City to the Isle of Man on Tuesday this week. It already flies from the Docklands airport to Jersey, Liverpool and Manchester. The lowest fare for travel to the Isle of Man found in test bookings for travel later this month was £190 return.
VISITORS TEMPTED by the low fares will find the most liberal licensing laws in the British Isles. Pubs, restaurants and the casino in the island's capital, Douglas, are allowed to serve alcohol 24 hours a day.
But Isle of Man Tourism warns that "The island has strong anti-drugs policy and illegal possession of banned substances can lead to a jail sentence".
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