Monthly cost of airline subsidies and passenger numbers

Summary

The requester asked for a monthly breakdown of subsidies paid to LoganAir and passenger numbers since March 2020, but the Department of Infrastructure refused to disclose the financial data citing commercial and economic exemptions.

Key Facts

• The request was made on 2021-03-30 and responded to on 2021-05-14.
• The Department of Infrastructure withheld information on financial assistance to LoganAir.
• The refusal was based on the potential harm to the Isle of Man's economy and LoganAir's commercial interests.
• The authority stated the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the interest in transparency.
• The requester was advised they could resubmit the request once border restrictions are fully removed.

Data Disclosed

• March 2020
• 2021-03-30
• 2021-05-14
• 1730822
• Section 30
• Section 35

Exemptions Cited

• Section 30 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Economy and Commercial Interests)
• Section 35 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Conduct of Public Business)

Original Request

Please provide a monthly breakdown by route of the subsidies paid to LoganAir since March 2020. Can you also provide the monthly passenger numbers over this period for each route?

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Economy and Commercial Interests

The amount of financial assistance provided to Loganair is exempt from disclosure under section 30 of the Act, which relates to economy and commercial interests. The reasons why this exemption applies are as follows:-

Section 30(2)(b) is a prejudice-based exemption, only applying in instances where harm to the economy would or would be likely to occur. We are satisfied that disclosing the information would likely be harmful to the economy and commercial interests of the Isle of Man. Our consideration of prejudice and its likelihood of occurring, in respect of section 30(2)(b), is that disclosure of the amount of financial assistance may also cause harm to the commercial interests of Loganair and any other airline which may tender for similar service provision in the future.
Section 30 of the Act is a qualified exemption and therefore subject to a public interest test. In assessing where the public interest lies, the following factors have been considered:

Factors in favour of disclosure:
 Transparency and openness by disclosing the information;  Accountability to the general public in respect of pandemic-related expenditure.
Factors in favour of maintaining the exemption:  Harm to the commercial interests of Loganair;  Reputational damage to the DOI arising from disclosure with commercial airlines, particularly Loganair;  Damage to the economy of the IOM by releasing the information, if in future the tender exercise needed to be repeated this could put some airlines at an unfair advantage, and Loganair at a disadvantage  Reputational and commercial damage to the DHSC in respect of commercial airlines, particularly Loganair;  Harm to the commercial interests of other airlines operating between IOM/London routes;
Conduct of Public Business

Section 35 of the Act is also a qualified exemption and therefore also subject to a public interest test. In assessing where the public interest lies, the following factors have been considered:-

Factors in favour of disclosure:
 Transparency and openness by disclosing the information;  Accountability to the general public in respect of pandemic-related expenditure.
Factors in favour of maintaining the exemption:  Government needs to be able to react accordingly during the pandemic and period of border restrictions to preserve vital transport links. It is crucial that commercial interests of operators be protected during this unprecedented time. There is a possibility that the information could be disclosed once the border restrictions have been removed;

 The appointment process may need to be repeated again during the border restrictions. Disclosure could potentially nullify any process in the near future. Taking these factors into account, the Department of Infrastructure has determined that at this point in time the factors in favour of maintaining the exemption outweigh the factors in favour of disclosing the information. Should you wish to resubmit your request once the borders are fully unrestricted, it can be re-considered under different circumstances.

Please quote the reference number 1730822 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact us and we will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded. If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact us. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi. We will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely

FOI Response Team