Airport.

[snowman]

Malaga and Gatwick cancelled 

[snowman]

Loganair Heathrow flight took off but has diverted back to IOM

[Moghrey Mie]

3 hours ago, code99 said:

IMHO, the DOI Minister’s/ Tynwald performance was pretty poor. What I mean by this is that he quotes an astonishing figure of £300m (the IOMG can't afford) without giving any justification for this (utterly bizarre); he uses the term ‘flight management system’, but perhaps what he means is a new ‘landing’ system...? He has an obligation to elaborate on (what the heck) he means by “near the bottom in terms of regulatory performance”. Does this mean that the airport is not safe by international standards, or is this just his personal/ DOI flippant remark? He offers no tangible ideas as to what could or should be practically done! (‘Tynwald clowns’ hyperbole is an insult to all professional clowns – no one asked the relevant questions or broached the subject of £300m for discussion, etc). 

Category one -similar to other basic airports.

[code99]

14 minutes ago, Moghrey Mie said:

Category one -similar to other basic airports.

Verbatim his words were: "We don’t actually have a very good airport at the moment. Our airport is unfortunately pretty near the bottom in terms of regulatory performance".

1. So, my first question is, regardless of whether Ronaldsway is technically classified as category one or category six, does our airport meet the needs of the Island's residents and the visitors alike, or not? Given that (again) today more flights were cancelled, I would say not reliably enough. But that is a personal view, not a technical or professional assessment.

2. Another issue is what criteria did he use to conclude that our airport is not very good? Is that summary/ conclusion a technical assessment or just a subjective personal opinion? 

3. One more question. Would the Island as a whole be better off if we had another arm's-length operator running another slice of our critical infrastructure? To me the words 'arm's-length operator' always translate as 'profit making company'. Perhaps the best option for the island is to have a government operation that makes a small loss? 

But most of all, my major concern is with the £300m figure: a) what does this mean? b) where does this figure come from? and c) could government finances afford it? The answers to those questions are; a) no idea, b) no idea, and c) definitely not!

[Non-Believer]

5 hours ago, code99 said:

IMHO, the DOI Minister’s/ Tynwald performance was pretty poor. What I mean by this is that he quotes an astonishing figure of £300m (the IOMG can't afford) without giving any justification for this (utterly bizarre); he uses the term ‘flight management system’, but perhaps what he means is a new ‘landing’ system...? He has an obligation to elaborate on (what the heck) he means by “near the bottom in terms of regulatory performance”. Does this mean that the airport is not safe by international standards, or is this just his personal/ DOI flippant remark? He offers no tangible ideas as to what could or should be practically done! (‘Tynwald clowns’ hyperbole is an insult to all professional clowns – no one asked the relevant questions or broached the subject of £300m for discussion, etc). 

We have been through this nebulous, reticent approach to project detail before, it most famously involved a Promenade (but as many other DOI involvements as you care to remember). It is simply dreaming up work to justify people's positions and employment and facts and figures are mere bagatelle. Anybody else remember life-threatening voids that didn't exist? Project Fear has nothing on the DOI when it needs to justify its existence.

What the DOI has to its advantage (which is thoroughly employed) is a succession of compliant ministers, unqualified in DOI areas of work and therefore happy to recite what they are told and equally shallow political administrations who are happy to just nod stuff through in the belief that the aforementioned know what they are talking about.

Edited April 29, 2023 by Non-Believer
Extra bit

[offshoremanxman]

2 minutes ago, code99 said:

But most of all, my major concern is with the £300m figure: a) what does this mean? b) where does this figure come from? and c) could government finances afford it? The answers to those questions are; a) no idea, b) no idea, and c) definitely not!

Let’s face it an “arms length” commercial operator will not be investing £300M into a shitty regional airport like Ronaldsway because it would be absolute commercial suicide of epic proportions for an airport which handles about 650K passengers a year. Generally a commercial enterprises is not going to invest cash that it will take 100 years or more to recoup. 

[snowman]

Belfast City couldn't land

[madmanxpilot]

1 hour ago, Moghrey Mie said:

Category one -similar to other basic airports.

No - other ‘basic’ airports have better lights allowing for landing in 550m.

For CAT1 ILS, the decision height is always (with very few exceptions) 200 feet for a straight in approach. It is the standard of lighting which dictates the visibility required to legally make an approach. Our lighting is only one grade up from having no lights at all, and that is why we need 1000 metres here.

[offshoremanxman]

36 minutes ago, madmanxpilot said:

No - other ‘basic’ airports have better lights allowing for landing in 550m.

For CAT1 ILS, the decision height is always (with very few exceptions) 200 feet for a straight in approach. It is the standard of lighting which dictates the visibility required to legally make an approach. Our lighting is only one grade up from having no lights at all, and that is why we need 1000 metres here.

How on earth did we spend £70M extending the runway and not upgrade the lighting at the same time? 

[snowman]

3 hours ago, snowman said:

Loganair Heathrow flight took off but has diverted back to IOM

G-LMTD operated the second attempt to depart and landed in Heathrow.

 

G-LMTC was the original operating aircraft, so presumably it's a tech issue 

[Omobono]

57 minutes ago, offshoremanxman said:

How on earth did we spend £70M extending the runway and not upgrade the lighting at the same time? 

 

57 minutes ago, offshoremanxman said:

How on earth did we spend £70M extending the runway and not upgrade the lighting at the same time? 

because someone  might have possibly got a brown envelope ?  the money spent on Ronaldsway   in recent years  has been significant , value for money I guess not ,  as an airport its a bloody disgrace ,

[Banker]

48 minutes ago, snowman said:

G-LMTD operated the second attempt to depart and landed in Heathrow.

 

G-LMTC was the original operating aircraft, so presumably it's a tech issue 

Liverpool easyJet has just landed, anyone know what happens to all Iom passengers on Malaga flight?

[WTF]

2 minutes ago, Banker said:

Liverpool easyJet has just landed, anyone know what happens to all Iom passengers on Malaga flight?

they get angry.

[Non-Believer]

1 hour ago, offshoremanxman said:

How on earth did we spend £70M extending the runway and not upgrade the lighting at the same time? 

"Somebody" decided that the lighting was superfluous to requirements.

[madmanxpilot]

5 minutes ago, WTF said:

they get angry.

Maybe the Airport Director will pass on going out to sit with them for a few minutes when they do get back waving Spanish flags looking all happy smiley.

In all seriousness, at the risk of sounding like a stuck record, these weather related delays and cancellations will continue apace until something is done about upgrading the navigation facilities to match or better the capability of the aircraft and crews who operate into here.

This time of year with a still cold sea and warm moist air masses coming in from the south west, the recipe for sea mist and fog is almost perfect.

I just don’t understand why it is not a priority for IOMG to sort it once and for all, they obviously do not appreciate the cost and inconvenience this stuff causes.

Maybe it’s time to go nuclear about it and not waste time pussy footing about. The public need to know the true level of incompetence that is oozing from the offices at EGNS.