Southampton Airport

First World War

The Royal Flying Corps earmarked the site as an aircraft acceptance base during the First World War, but when forces from the United States Navy Air Service (NAS) arrived in 1917 it was handed over to them and designated NAS Eastleigh.^[9][10] Work on the building of hangars which had begun under the Royal Flying Corps was accelerated.^[8] At the peak of the American presence, some 4,000 officers and men were billeted in tents and huts along the adjacent London to Southampton railway line.^[8]

Inter-War years

After the war, the site became a transit camp for refugees, mainly Russian, who wished to sail to America from the port of Southampton. Shipping companies Cunard and White Star Line (the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company), together with the Canadian Pacific Railway, formed the Atlantic Park Hostel Company to house them temporarily. In 1921, the hangars were converted into dormitories, kitchens and dining rooms.^[11]

The hostel was intended as a short-term clearing house for those trans-migrants changing ships, but following changes to United States immigration law which restricted entry under national origins quotas, some residents were forced to stay much longer. In 1924 about 980 Ukrainian Jewish would-be emigrants were cared for at the hostel. Some of them were still there seven years later, stranded between the US and UK which would not accept them, and unable to return to the countries they had fled. Atlantic Park had a school, library, and synagogue; the refugees formed football teams that played local sides and took part in local events, such as Eastleigh carnival. At the height of its use, 20,000 passed through Atlantic Park in 1928 but then numbers started to fall away, leading to the closure of the hostel in 1931.^[11]

In 1932, Southampton Corporation purchased the site, and it became Southampton Municipal Airport.^[12] This was allowed for by the Southampton Corporation Act 1931, which allowed for the creation of a public aerodrome.^[13] By 1935, part of the site was being used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and was briefly known as RAF Eastleigh before it became RAF Southampton in 1936. Also in 1936, Supermarine opened a flight test facility on the site and built a large new Flight Shed at the south end of the aerodrome in 1937-38, and construction of the vast Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft factory between this and Wide Lane soon followed. The latter factory was better known post-war for production of the Ford Motor Company's Transit vans until this finally closed in 2013 - leaving only the almost forgotten Supermarine Flight Shed which had accommodated so many Spitfires locally before their first flights and deliveries to the RAF. Sadly, despite its obvious historical significance, this 84-year-old building is now set for demolition and redevelopment with modern industrial units.^[14]

Second World War

The first test flight of the Supermarine Spitfire took place at the airport on 5 March 1936, an event commemorated in 2004 by the erection of a two-thirds-size sculpture of K5054, the prototype Spitfire, at the road entrance. On 5 March 2006, five restored Spitfires took off from Southampton Airport to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the first test flight of the Spitfire. The local council wanted to rename the airport after R. J. Mitchell, designer of the Spitfire. However, the airport owner at the time, Heathrow Airport Holdings, did not agree.^[15][16]

The military site was transferred to naval command in 1939, renamed RNAS Eastleigh (HMS Raven), and spent most of the war in a ground and air training role for the Royal Navy. Owing to the 'HMS' designation in the airport's name, Nazi propaganda inaccurately reported that HMS Raven had been sunk when a bombing raid hit the airport.^[17] It passed back into civilian ownership in April 1946.^[12]

Development after the Second World War

The Cierva Autogiro Company rented portions of the Cunliffe-Owen plants from 1946, but had to move to another location on the field when it was acquired by Briggs. In 1951, Saunders-Roe took over the interests of Cierva Autogyro and built a rotor testing building on the eastern side of the airfield, which is now derelict. They continued operations on the field until about 1960.^[18]

During the 1950s, a mainstay of business for the airport was the cross-channel car ferry service operated by Silver City Airways using Bristol Freighters and Superfreighters.^[12]

In 1959, Southampton (Eastleigh) Airport was purchased by racing pilot J.N. 'Nat' Somers, who laid the foundation for the regional airport that exists today by building the concrete runway in 1963 and negotiating with British Rail to build Southampton Airport Parkway railway station next to the airport. Somers also worked with the Department of Transport to plan for the new M27 motorway to pass through the airport just south of the runway and north of Ford's plant, at the same time installing a major roundabout outside the airport.^[12] This forward-thinking programme encouraged most of the airlines at Bournemouth (Hurn) airport to move to Southampton in the mid-1960s. In 1988 Somers' company sold the airport to Peter de Savary, who a few years later sold it to the owners of London Heathrow.^[12]

In 1993, construction of a new terminal began after an investment of £27 million by BAA. It was completed in 1994 and opened by Prince Andrew, the Duke of York.^[12]

21st century

In 2003, the airport reached one million passengers.^[12]

In 2010, the airport arranged a series of events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first flight at the airport.^[19] In 2012, the Olympic flame visited the airport as part of the torch relay for the 2012 Olympics, in London. In October 2014, Heathrow Airport Holdings reached an agreement to sell the airport, together with those at Glasgow and Aberdeen, for £1 billion to AGS Airports, a consortium of Ferrovial and Macquarie Group.^[20]

In 2016 the airport won the Airport of the Year award of the European Regional Airlines Association, having demonstrated extraordinary involvement with the local community and reducing its carbon footprint, whilst growing and expanding in a highly competitive market.^[21] In March of the same year, Aer Lingus Regional announced it would fly from Southampton to Cork Airport with an ATR 72, operated by Stobart Air. In 2017, the airport reached two million passengers. In 2019 Southampton was ranked third of 30 airports in the UK for customer satisfaction by Which? magazine, with a score of 77%.^[22] On 5 June Air Force One touched down in Southampton carrying then president, Donald Trump. He then travelled to Portsmouth to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day. The Boeing 757 was the biggest jet ever to visit Southampton.^[23]

On the 9 December 2020, British Airways (BA CityFlyer) announced they would fly to 13 destinations, mainly holiday destinations, to Spain, Portugal, France, Austria, Italy and Greece. These flights filled the void left by Flybe.^[24]

On the 25 May 2023, easyJet announced that they would start flying to two domestic destinations, with twice weekly flights to Glasgow and thrice weekly flights to Belfast International starting at the end of October.^[25] On the 7 November 2023, easyJet yet again announced they would start flying to two summer destinations, those being Faro once a week and Alicante once a week.^[26] Not long after, easyJet announced the third summer route, a twice weekly service to Palma de Mallorca.^[27]

Terminal

Southampton Airport has one terminal which has twelve stands. None of the stands are equipped with jet bridges. Inside the terminal, there are thirteen check-in desks. Facilities include coffee shops, bars, stationers, a duty-free shop and an upstairs lounge.^[28]

Airfield

Southampton Airport has one main ground handler, Swissport (Servisair), who took over from Aviance. They handle all passenger services and apron operations for all airlines except for Aurigny Air Services who operate their own ground handling.^[29]

Southampton has one asphalt runway. Historically, there were three runways: one following the current one, one intersecting the current runway at 90 degrees at the north side of the airfield, and one which crossed through the middle of the current runway. It is clearly visible where the northern runway was: it is why there is a panhandle at the northeast of the airfield. All these runways were grass. The only remaining runway is 02/20 which is now 1887 metres long and 37 metres wide. Only runway 20 has an Instrument Landing System. 02 has VOR/DME and NDB. Visual approach is allowed on both 02 and 20. The airport must close from 23:00 to 06:00, but can operate ten flights monthly between those times. Helicopters are heavily restricted.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2019, the airport announced plans to extend its runway north by 164m to allow it to support larger aircraft which would enable longer routes. The airport stated aims to increase passenger numbers from 2 million to 5 million by 2037.^[30] The managing director for Southampton Airport claimed that if the runway extension is not approved, the airport may have to close in 2021.^[31] Work commenced on the 164m runway extension on 31 March 2023.^[32] The new 164m runway extension became operational on 15 August 2023 with an official opening on 21 September. Attendees included then Aviation Minister Baroness Vere as well as then MP for Eastleigh, Paul Holmes.^[33][34]

Passenger numbers

Southampton Airport Passenger Totals 2002–2024 (thousands)

Updated: June 2021.[2]

Busiest routes

More information Rank, Airport ...

Busiest routes to and from Southampton (2022)^[54]

Rank	Airport	Total passengers	Change 2021–22	Carrier(s)
1	Jersey	99,892	85.7%	Blue Islands
2	Guernsey	97,364	97.3%	Aurigny, Blue Islands
3	Edinburgh	81,766	132.1%	British Airways, Loganair
4	Glasgow	75,002	136.6%	Loganair
5	Belfast City (George Best)	61,422	243.2%	Aer Lingus
6	Amsterdam	52,779	461.4%	KLM
7	Newcastle	39,622	104.6%	Loganair
8	Dublin	30,561	300.2%	Aer Lingus, British Airways, Eastern Airways
9	Alderney	17,175	104.5%	Aurigny
10	Palma de Mallorca	12,768	263.1%	British Airways

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Rail

Southampton Airport has a dedicated mainline railway station, Southampton Airport Parkway. It is on the South West Main Line from London Waterloo (66 minutes away) to Winchester (15 minutes away), Southampton (city centre about 7 minutes away), Bournemouth, Poole, Dorchester and Weymouth, with a fast and frequent service to those places. The station is a 60-second walk from the terminal, one of the closest airport links in Europe.

Bus

Unilink buses run to Southampton city centre every 10–15 minutes throughout the day and take about 45 minutes; taxis are available outside Arrivals.^[55] Bluestar also runs services between Eastleigh and Hedge End aboard their 24 service hourly on the southside of the train station.

Motorway

The airport is near the junction between the M3 motorway and M27 motorway, giving easy road access to Southampton, Winchester, Bournemouth, Poole, Portsmouth and places between.

Bicycle

Southampton Airport has designated parking and storage for bicycles. Southampton cycle route 7 is proposed to run just outside the airport, giving it a direct cycle path to the city centre. National Cycle Route 23 also runs outside the airport, running between Southampton and Reading via Basingstoke, Alresford, Winchester and Eastleigh.