| Southampton International Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: SOU – ICAO: EGHI | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Owner | BAA | ||
| Operator | Southampton International Airport Ltd. | ||
| Serves | Southampton | ||
| Location | Eastleigh, Hampshire | ||
| Hub for | Flybe | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 44 ft / 13 m | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Website | |||
| Map | |||
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EGHI
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| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 02/20 | 1,723 | 5,653 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (2010) | |||
| Passengers | 1,733,690 | ||
| Passenger change 09-10 | 3.1% | ||
| Aircraft Movements | 45,350 | ||
| Movements change 09-10 | 0.3% | ||
| Source: United Kingdom AIP[1] Statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority[2] |
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Southampton Airport (IATA: SOU, ICAO: EGHI) is the 20th largest airport in the UK, located 3.5 NM (6.5 km; 4.0 mi) north north-east of Southampton,[1] in the Borough of Eastleigh within Hampshire, England.
The airport is owned and operated by BAA, which also owns and operates five other UK airports,[3] and is itself owned by ADI Limited, an international consortium, which includes Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and GIC Special Investments, that is led by the Spanish Ferrovial Group.[4]
The airport handled 1,733,690 passengers during 2010, a 3.1% reduction compared with 2009.[2] Southampton Airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P690) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.
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The airport's runway is reputed to be built over the remains of a Roman villa.[5]
The site's connection with aviation can be traced back to 1910 when pioneer pilot Edwin Rowland Moon used the meadows belonging to North Stoneham Farm as a take-off and landing spot for his monoplane, Moonbeam Mk II.[6] In 2010, the airport arranged a series of events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first flight at the airport.[7]
During the First World War, when forces from the United States Navy arrived in 1917, work on the building of hangars began. 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.
After that war, the site became a transit camp for refugees, mainly Russian, who were anxious to sail to America from the port of Southampton. The 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.
The hostel was intended to be a short-term clearing house for those trans-migrants changing ships, but following changes to US immigration law which restricted entry to the United States 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 the countries they had fled. Atlantic Park had a school, library, and synagogue while 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 figures started to fall away, leading to the closure of the hostel in 1931.
In 1932 Southampton Corporation purchased the site and it became "Southampton Municipal Airport". By 1935 part of the site was being used by the Fleet Air Arm of the RAF and was briefly known as RAF Eastleigh before it became RAF Southampton in 1936. The military site was transferred to Naval command in 1939 and renamed HMS Raven, and subsequently spent most of the war in a ground and air training role for the Royal Navy.[8] It eventually passed back into civilian ownership in April 1946.
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. In 1965 a new concrete runway was built, opening for use in 1966, enabling the operation of larger aircraft.
In 1936 Supermarine opened a test flight facility on the site, followed shortly thereafter by the opening of the Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft factory on the southern end of the runway. Both companies later closed their Southampton operations, Supermarine moving flying activities to Chilbolton, and the Cunliffe-Owen factory being acquired by Briggs Motor Bodies during 1949 - 1951[9] who were taken over by Ford in 1953. This factory is still in use, although now located off-field due to the opening of the M27 motorway in 1983. The Cierva Autogiro Company rented portions of the Cunliffe-Owen plants starting in 1946, and had to move to another location on the field when it was acquired by Briggs. In 1951 Saunders-Roe (commonly abbreviated Saro) 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.
On 5 March 1936 the first test flight of the Supermarine Spitfire took place at the airport, an event commemorated in 2004 with the erection of a near-full size sculpture of K5054, the prototype Spitfire at the road entrance.
On 5 March 2006 at 16:30 GMT, five restored Spitfires took off from Southampton Airport to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the first flight of the Spitfire at the precise same time as the test flights in 1936.
There are plans, supported by the local council, to rename the airport after R. J. Mitchell, designer of the Spitfire. However, the choice whether to rename the airport lies with BAA.[10][11]
In 2010, the airport opened new restaurant and bar facilities named after the designer R.J. Mitchell, called Mitchell's Kitchen & Bar. Phase two of the £3 million development will open in the Departure Lounge in Summer 2010.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Aurigny Air Services | Alderney |
| Blue Islands | Guernsey, Jersey |
| Eastern Airways | Aberdeen, Leeds Bradford Seasonal: Dijon |
| Flybe | Alicante, Amsterdam, Avignon, Belfast City, Bergerac, Brussels, Dublin, Dusseldorf, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Glasgow-International, Guernsey, Hanover, Isle of Man, Jersey, La Rochelle, Leeds Bradford, Limoges, Malaga, Manchester, Newcastle, Paris-Orly, Rennes, Salzburg Seasonal: Berne, Beziers, Bordeaux, Brest, Chambery, Clermont-Ferrand, Faro, Geneva, Inverness, Nice, Palma (Majorca), Pau, Perpignan, Verona Seasonal Charter: Chambery, Ibiza, Kittilä, Menorca, Palma de Mallorca, Salzburg, Verona |
| Isles of Scilly Skybus | Isles of Scilly |
In previous years Southampton has had scheduled air service from Air France to Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Aer Arann flights to Cork Airport. The Paris route has scince been taken over by Flybe who codeshare with Air France on the new routes to Paris Orly. Eastern Airways also flew scheduled flights to Newcastle International Airport up until early 2010 when the route was cut.
Southampton Airport is served by a dedicated mainline railway station, Southampton Airport Parkway, on the South Western Main Line from London Waterloo (just 66 minutes away) and Winchester to Southampton, Bournemouth, Poole, Dorchester and Weymouth with a fast and frequent service to those places. The station is conveniently located just a 60 second walk from the terminal (one of the closest airport links across Europe).
The airport is also located close to the junction between the M3 motorway and M27 motorway, giving easy road access to Southampton, Winchester, Bournemouth, Portsmouth and places between.
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