AIRCRAFT will no longer fly under the Manx2 colours from January 1 following a management buy-out of the company.
Manx2.com’s management team, led by managing director David Buck, has invested a six-figure sum to buy the Manx2.com business.
As part of the changeover, the new company name Citywing will replace the existing Manx2.com branding.
The new company will still be based in the Isle of Man and staffed by island employees, with island resident owners and directors.
Manx2 customers have been assured it is business as usual.
Mr Buck said : ‘All existing bookings with Manx2.com will be automatically and seamlessly transferred to Citywing. All flight schedules and timings remain exactly the same.
‘This is an exciting venture for the management team and we’re delighted to have the opportunity to invest in this Manx business, supported by our chairman and largest shareholder, Noel Hayes.
‘We are fiercely proud of both our Manx roots and our Manx routes, and will continue to grow and develop key Isle of Man gateways including Blackpool, Belfast, Gloucester and Newcastle, supporting and promoting the Isle of Man economy wherever possible.
‘Whilst we are sad to bid farewell to the Manx2.com brand, our new logo reflects our Manx heritage and is based around a stylisation of the famous Manx Shearwater.
‘In recognition of the management buy-out and our plans to further extend the reach of our community-connecting services to other city-to-city routes outside the Isle of Man, we felt it appropriate to realign the company name to Citywing, which is of more direct relevance to our broader activities, including the Cardiff-Anglesey and Gloucester-Jersey routes.’
Manx2 chairman Noel Hayes said he would remain as chairman of the new company but would be taking a more non-executive role, providing help and advice to the new company.
He said after more than six years at the helm it was ‘like having a child finally leave home’. He said talks with the management team over a buy-out had been going on for six months.
The company and its partners employ 50 staff on the island and carry around 100,000 passengers every year. Citywing’s first flights will be on January 2 next year.
Last week, Manx2 announced it was suspending services to Leeds/Bradford and Oxford from January 8 for the first quarter of the year, with the air operator blaming falling demand and increased Air Passenger Duty.
Its Oxford service was only launched in May while the Leed Bradford route had been operated since August 2006.