Isle of Man Flying School was set up in June 2021, but it took until June 2023 to take to the skies with their first student.

Andrea Krüger got her flying instructor rating during the pandemic in 2020 and had anticipated to work as a flying instructor on the island a couple days per week in addition to her day job as a chartered architect.

But by the time that she had qualified, the only flying school on the island had closed down.

Despite rumours that another school was set to be established, Andrea’s anticipation got the better of her and she decided to take matters into her own hands.

She set up Isle of Man Flying School but admitted ‘although I have set up businesses before and am a commercial pilot, I had no idea what I had let myself in for’.

And it wasn’t a straightforward process by any stretch of the imagination.

Andrea says she had to jump through holes to get the business off the ground.

‘Our local Civil Aviation Administration (CAA), albeit very helpful, is not set up to regulate and supervise flying schools.

‘The UK CAA is not responsible for regulating flying schools in the island or the Channel Islands, the work around is to become a “satellite” of a registered UK based flying school.

‘Back in winter 2020, I contacted about 20 different schools in the UK asking to team up, with no positive replies.

‘I then placed an advert in an online pilot magazine and received a surprisingly good response of interested schools.

‘The flying school in the UK that we decided to go with unfortunately closed its doors in 2021, which left us looking for a partner yet again.’

Another issue then reared its head - where does a flying school get a plane?

Issues with leasing an aircraft proved difficult, so Andrea decided to purchase one herself.

She spotted one in Turkey that ticked all the boxes, and with help from her family bought the two seater Evektor Sport Star RTC in the summer of 2022.

She said: ‘Buying a plane is very exciting, and picking it up and flying it through seven countries all the way to the UK, is even more exciting. It is a proper adventure.’

Once the buzz of the new plane wore off, Andrea found she was still yet to find a partner school.

But in spring this year, her luck changed.

Andrea was put in contact with Mona Flying Club in Anglesey, north Wales and the two companies have now formed a close working relationship.

And Andrea received another bit of good news in September this year when she learned that the services of her now colleague John, an experienced pilot and flying instructor, had become available.

Between them, they offer flight training daily, fitting around the weather and student availability.

And after years of hard work and dedication, the business is finally taking off.

Andrea said: ‘We have a lot of interest, which ranges from pilots that have not flown for years and want to get back into it, qualified pilots looking to rent our plane on an hourly basis to fly themselves places, student pilots that were left stranded with unfinished licences due the two previous flying schools closing and who now want to continue their training, new students fulfilling the dream of becoming pilots and many people looking for one-off flights as a gift to loved ones.

‘The island is spectacular from the air, especially on a nice day.

‘It is nice for people to see familiar places from a different perspective.’

‘Freedom’ and ‘choice’ are words Andrea uses a lot when speaking about the flying school, words that she also associates with learning to fly.

‘Northern Ireland for example is only a 30-minute flight away from Ronaldsway, and flying yourself places gives you the choice to go when it suits you and to head to airports that suit you more than the destinations offered by the commercial airlines’, she said.

‘I think that it is also an achievement to be proud of and opens the opportunity for fabulous adventures.

‘As a new private pilot I flew from here to Inverness, as well as to Newquay, various Scottish island and Donegal in the Republic of Ireland.

‘The Isle of Man is perfectly located to explore the British Isles by plane.’

While Andrea and John admit that flying doesn’t come cheap, they’re hopeful that their small school, operating out of its base in a renovated container near Gate 14 at Ronaldsway Airport, will do well.

Andrea said: ‘I accept that flying is a luxury to many, but the happiness and exhilaration it gives people is not to be underestimated, and worth it.

‘Our students are looking forward to their next lesson once it is booked in, and smile ear to ear after landing, which, from memory, lasts for a couple of days.’

While proud of herself and the business, Andrea gives a lot of credit to the Isle of Man for being such a good place to learn how to fly.

She said: ‘Our students benefit from learning at a radar controlled airport which is usually very quiet, which gives them a professional ATC environment with lots of radiotelephony calls and interaction with Air Traffic Control 0fficers as well as mixing with commercial air traffic.

‘It can involve orbiting near the airport whilst an airliner flies past to land or after taking off.

‘It can initially be daunting, but being exposed to the commercial environment from the start avoids hesitancy to build up.

‘The long and wide runways at Ronaldsway are lovely to land on and having the cross runway makes flight training in different wind conditions possible.

‘The northern half of the Isle of Man is not radar controlled, this is where we practice aeroplane handling away from the airport environment.’

Despite flying many students towards the north of the island to get used to handling the two seater plane, Andrea says she loves venturing south for the views.

She said: ‘All of the island is beautiful, and it is rewarding to see how excited people are during their first flight.

‘I always spot something of interest that I have not seen before.

‘But recently I have especially enjoyed flying around the south of the Isle of Man, including the Calf of Man, and some of the beautiful photos illustrate my point.’

Andrea has described flying as a fabulous hobby that can transition into a profession for enthusiastic individuals.

The Isle of Man Flying School is now selling gift vouchers in time for Christmas.

l For anyone interested in learning to fly or a gift voucher, have a look at prices and offers on the Isle of Man Flying School website - www.iomflying.school or email Andrea at [email protected].