Originally Posted by
Expressflight
Lat year a total of 19,940 pax flew the NWI-MAN route, while in 2017 it was 26,209. Going back to 2008 that figure was 42,846 so there has been a huge drop off in traffic on the route. Who has operated NWI-MAN over the years? I can recall it being a Flybe route (I think) that was then franchised to Loganair and latterly operated by them in their own right. I wonder how the fares have changed over the years because they seem quite high these days and I wonder if, perhaps in the Flybe days, fares were lower in real terms. Otherwise it's hard to see why the pax numbers fell off so dramatically as the train journey still takes nearly 5 hours and by road it takes about the same amount of time.
I've used the route since the Eastern Airways days on it, its never been that busy a service but handy to have. I have to say of late i've taken the train more, a combination of times don't suit me, fares too expensive compared to rail and ease of travelling from a local railway station. Battling through Manchester T3 in the morning, and being stuck on the M56 to get to the airport in the first place, is quite stressful too.