A Weekend on the Isle of Man: Prop Planes at Ronaldsway Airport

October 14, 2011 at 5:17 PM | by JetSetCD | Comments (0)

The Isle of Man is a mysterious place, a nearly sovereign territory out in the middle of the choppy Irish Sea between England and Ireland. What sort of people live there? What's there to see and do? These are all questions we wanted to answer, so we went ourselves...because why not? All this week we'll be sharing our experiences in this curious island destination.

There's thousands and thousands (tens of thousands?) of itty-bitty, obscure airports out there around the world, but after a visit to the Isle of Man's Ronaldsway Airport, we think we've found one of the coolest. If you aren't getting to the Irish Sea island by ferry, then you're landing here and likely in a small prop plane.

Flights come in from London-City, London-Gatwick, Blackpool, Glasgow, Dublin, Belfast, Manchester and a few others destinations sprinkled about, but may we recommend hopping a Manx2 plane for the most authentic experience? Yep, the Isle of Man has its own airline.

The history of Ronaldsway is almost as all over the place as the island's own background. First off, it sits on a mass grave of soldiers from a battle in the 1200s, and second off, during its grass runway days in World War II, it was a busy spot for the Royal Air Force. The Isle of Man bought it from the UK after the war for �200,000—a bargain—and expansion began to serve all the civilian flights it deals with today.

Keep your fingers crossed that you're flying in on a clear day, because it shouldn't be that difficult for the entirety of the island to be visible from your window seat. Take a snap for us? We came by ferry, but won't next time.

[Photos: Cynthia Drescher for Jaunted]

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