Mediaboss Marketing

by Kate McDowell

Following the disappointing news that the Isle of Man will lose its route to London City from 11th April, Manx2.com is stepping in to offer attractive alternative access to the Island. Any passengers who were booked to travel through London City are being offered the opportunity to rebook their tickets on Manx2.coms new London Oxford route from 8th May - for 1 less than they originally paid for a London City ticket.

Manx2.com Managing Director, David Buck, said: Its obviously disappointing that the Isle of Man is losing this route but perhaps understandable in these tough economic times.

Its crucial for the Isle of Mans economy that we maximise access wherever possible and we are very keen to ensure that no one has to cancel their plans to visit the Island.

Oxfords award-winning airport boasts a state-of-the-art new passenger terminal with convenient and affordable parking. It offers good access to West London and Heathrow from the M40 motorway and with a new local rail station at Kidlington opening early in 2013 providing access to the mainline rail network at London's Marylebone for the first time, the airport terminal will be accessible from London in less than an hour via public transport.

Daily flights will depart Isle of Man Airport at 10:55, arriving in London Oxford just one hour later. Oxford departures will be at 15:15, arriving on the Island at 16:25. The service, operated by a British Aerospace Jetstream 31 aircraft, will also connect directly through Oxford on to Manx2s Jersey service.

To re-book tickets, passengers should email their booking confirmation to reservations@manx2.com who will handle all necessary arrangements.

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we are very keen to ensure that no one has to cancel their plans to visit the Island."

David Buck, Manx2.com Managing Director

See the rest here:
Manx2.com Offers to Help London City Passengers

by Aoife Donohoe

Aer Arann is to cease operating its Isle of Man to London City service with effect from Wednesday 11th April 2012. The airline intends to operate a normal Isle of Man-London City schedule up to and including Tuesday, 10th April with the last flight, RE 308, arriving from London City at 2050hrs that evening.

Passengers with confirmed bookings for flights after 10th April will be contacted directly by Aer Arann and will be offered a full refund.

We sincerely regret the impact that this decision will have on our customers said Sean Brogan, Aer Aranns Interim Chief Executive. The decision however is due to our evolving new business model which is based on providing connectivity and frequency on flights between the UK and Ireland and onwards to the USA and unfortunately the Isle of Man-London City route is not a strategic fit with this.

Aer Arann has 14 flight deck and cabin crew based in Isle of Man and all will be offered the opportunity to move to other Aer Arann bases.

I would like to thank our customers for their continued support for this service and for remaining loyal to us and to the London City route, said Sean Brogan.

Our team in Ronaldsway has provided an excellent service to our Isle of Man and London City customers since the route was launched in January 2009 and they have helped to build and maintain our reputation as a professional, safe and caring airline.

Aer Arann will continue to operate its Isle of Man to Dublin service under the Aer Lingus Regional brand effective 25th March.

With the Aer Lingus Regional service, Isle of Man passengers will benefit from connectivity on all Aer Lingus flights through Dublin offering not only excellent access to major European destinations such as Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels and Rome but also transatlantic connectivity on Aer Lingus flights to New York, Boston, Chicago and Orlando.

Passengers will also benefit from US Customs and Immigration pre-clearance facilities at Dublin Airport that will allow them to arrive in the US as domestic passengers, saving valuable time. Flights from Isle of Man to Dublin are available for booking on http://www.aerlingus.com.

View post:
Aer Arann to Close Isle of Man – London City Route

by Chris Boyde

When Rally Isle of Man returns to the calendar this September, itll do so as a three-day event.

Organisers have confirmed that they will run stages from Thursday 20th September through to Saturday 22nd, taking the event, which will incorporate Druidale Motor Clubs Duke Stages Rally, back to its traditional format and revered place as one of the biggest challenges in the sport.

Rally Isle of Man Chairman John Gill confirms the news. The organising team is fully aware of this events standing at the heart of British and Irish rallying. Since the return of the rally was announced many competitors have told us they would like to see it come back as three days. We are proud of the fact that it has a heritage to live up to, and excited that we have been able to ensure that the first step towards that is to deliver a traditional style event.

Scrutineering has always taken place during Thursday, and since the cars and competitors are here lets use the opportunity to re-launch Rally Isle of Man in style!

The opening evening is set to feature four stages, before daytime and evening legs on Friday and daytime stages throughout Saturday.

The team is also mindful of the current financial environment, both within the sport and generally, and is working to offer the best possible value for money to competitors.

Rally Isle of Man was most recently a three-day event in 2008, when recently-announced event Patron Mark Higgins and co-driver Rory Kennedy scored the closest ever victory in the rallys history, by just 11.6 seconds over Irish champions Eamonn Boland and Damien Morrissey.

The route for the 2012 edition is currently being confirmed with local authorities and organisers hope to announce further information in the next few days and whether youre a competitor, official or spectator, the exciting plans will have you chomping at the bit for the return of Rally Isle of Man!

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Read the original post:
Rally Isle of Man to Return as Three-Day Classic

by George Quayle

Local charity Age Concern Isle of Man is celebrating changing its name and branding to become Age Isle of Man. The new name recognises the organisations partnership with the Age UK, the new force combining Age Concern and Help the Aged.

Age Isle of Man will work with the Age UK to make later life better for local people.

Age Isle of Man will continue to provide tailored support and services for people living on this Island, including Information and Advice, the CHAT bus, Lunch Clubs, Activity Clubs and Computer Drop in Centres.

Day Care Centres and Meals on Wheels will continue to be run in partnership with the Department of Social Care. The Energy Doctor service will also continue to be run in partnership with the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture.

Age Isle of Man will work with the Age UK to ensure a high quality of service provision whilst retaining its independence, ensuring all monies raised here are spent on the Isle of Mans older people.

George Quayle, Age Isle of Mans Chief Executive Officer, said: We are delighted to be part of Age UK. We believe that working together with a network of local Age UKs in North West England represents a wealth of benefits for people in later life on the Island. Also working closely with Age UK will mean we can continue to improve the great work we already do for older people. It is important to note that apart from our name, nothing else will change in the way we operate here on the Island.

Helena Herklots, Services Director at Age UK, said: We are delighted that Age Isle of Man has joined us as one of our key partners in delivering our goal of improving later life for all. The combined strength, knowledge and know-how of the national organisation and the vibrant network of local independent charities provide strength and security in these difficult times. By coming together we can achieve so much for older people across the country. Age Isle of Man is a fantastic charity and we look forward to working with and supporting them in all that they do for people in later life in the years ahead.

For more information about Age Isle of Man please call 631740 or visit us online at http://www.ageconcerniom.com until our new website has been set up.

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Continued here:
Introducing Age Isle of Man

But at a time when public sector budgets are being slashed, it can be difficult to defend the costs of freedom of information.

Ken Thornber, leader of Hampshire County Council, said: "We spent 365,000 in 2010 answering freedom of information requests. What else could I do with that money? More social workers, more school inspectors, more spent on road maintenance."

Although the majority of requests are borne of genuine concerns, a small but significant number are vexatious or frivolous, often cited by FOI's critics as an example of wasted resources.

Thornber added: "We were asked how many drawing pins the council owns, and how many of those are presently installed in pinboards. Others have asked how much we have spent on biscuits for council meetings or on bottled water in a year.

"It's a waste of staff time to answer these questions, and every response has to be researched, written and checked by a senior officer before it goes out. We need some mechanism of deterring frivolous requests - such as a 25 charge."

A 2010 survey of local government by UCL's Constitution Unit estimated the cost of FOI at 31.6m, and that civil servants spent 1.2m hours responding to nearly 200,000 requests.

Central government received 27,294 requests during the same period. If every request costs an average of 293 and takes 7.5 hours to process - figures calculated by Frontier Economics - the total spend across central government would total 7.9m, and take an estimated 200,000 hours.

It is this money - and time - that could be put to better use, claim many in the public sector, especially when frontline services are being cut back while 270,000 jobs have been lost over the past year.

Nevertheless, it is important to keep these figures in context.

In the NHS, one recent estimate put costs at 30m, roughly equivalent to the NHS annual spend on chaplaincy.

Original post:
What price freedom (of information)?