EasyJet flies both a wide variety of routes across the UK and Europe and also some lesser known ones. One of these is the short hop between the Isle of Man and Belfast International Airport in Northern Ireland, a crucial linkage for the smaller island. With a scheduled flight time of 40 minutes across the 122km distance, this is easily EasyJet’s shortest flight.

I got to fly this short hop between the island and Belfast in the summer of 2024. As always, it was the standard EasyJet experience – no frills, but fuss free.

Departure from Isle of Man Airport

Isle of Man Airport (Manx: Purt Aer Vannin, also known as Ronaldsway Airport) is a small and efficient airfield located around 11km south of Douglas, the capital city. Travelling from Douglas to the airport is easy enough, with local buses running frequently from the centre of town.

I don’t usually check in baggage on budget airlines, but I was lugging a big bag along for this trip so I bought the Essentials fare which came with a 23kg check in baggage allowance and my choice of seat. With my online check in sorted and an empty check in hall at IOM, I completed my baggage drop, last café purchases, and departure security all in record time.

Airside at IOM is essentially one large waiting area with a bar, a Costa Coffee outlet, and toilets. There is also the Rendezvous lounge which is part of the Plaza Premium Lounge network, but you won’t really need it here at IOM.

Boarding was called some 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time. A short queue, and then we trooped down the stairs to the covered walkway on the tarmac for the quick walk over to our aircraft.

Half an hour is enough to board an Airbus A319, and we managed an on time departure into the cloudy skies over the Isle of Man.

Cabin & Onboard Services

EasyJet runs a typical budget airline service onboard, where flight attendants do a sales run for food, drinks, and merchandise. This flight was different though, as the short flight time made it near-impossible to serve everyone. The crew knew this, and actively informed passengers that they probably weren’t able to serve everyone. In fact, they only made it about a quarter way down the aisle before the carts had to be stowed for landing. Not that it mattered much, as this was one (short) flight where inflight service wasn’t actually necessary.

This wasn’t my first time on EasyJet, and the cabin product hadn’t changed at all. This aircraft, 16 year old G-EZDR, was equipped with an all-Economy cabin of 156 seats in a 3-3 configuration. Seat pitch depends on rows – the overwing exit rows get 35 inches of pitch whereas the rest of the cabin gets 28.5 inches. Pretty standard budget airline stuff, really.

I spent most of the flight flipping through the inflight magazine and taking in the view out the window. It may have been cloudy at takeoff, but up above the clouds it was sunny blue skies all the way.

Arrival at Belfast International Airport

Our descent started after only 10 minutes at cruising altitude, with our aircraft following the standard runway 25 arrival track from the east into Belfast International. The cloudy approach was one I had sat through many times before, and it was nice to once again punch through the clouds for a final approach over the green fields of County Antrim.

With such a short distance between both airports, we managed to arrive 4 minutes early at Belfast International after only 36 minutes. My bags took 10 minutes to appear on the carousel, and then it was out into the cool Irish summer.

Belfast International hadn’t changed much in the 6 years I’d been away, although it will be getting a (partial) new look courtesy of an extension to the terminal building. As always, I caught the Airport Express 300 into the city centre.

Final Thoughts

Flying out of smaller airports are always more relaxing, and IOM was no different. I could easily see myself doing this short hop again in the future!