I get on the tarmac at Southampton Airport to see why 164m of new runway is a big deal

On a sunny Tuesday afternoon, whilst the north of the country was dealing with snow, I headed down to Southampton Airport to see their new runway extension.

Rob has written before about the convenience of Southampton Airport, not just from the local area but from London as well. I didn’t quite believe him until I stepped off the train from Waterloo (which takes just over an hour) and saw the airport terminal literally about 100 metres away!

Sadly, I wasn’t flying anywhere. I’d been invited down for a tour by the team at the airport.

When I arrived at around 1pm the airport was in one of it’s afternoon lulls, before the next bank of flights around 4pm. It was exceptionally quiet, so I asked if we could drive down the runway ….. and to my surprise, the answer was yes.

I’ve never stood on an active runway before (outside of an aircraft, that is ….) so this was a novelty.

The reason was to have a closer look at the runway extension that was opened last year. You can see this in the photo above, starting with the zebra crossing.

In the context of a 1.8km runway, a 164m extension may seem inconsequential. In reality it makes a huge difference.

It will let larger aircraft such as easyJet’s A320s operate from Southampton, which the airport hopes will increase the number of airlines and destinations on offer. Historically the airport has been restricted to the smaller aircraft operated by BA Cityflyer, Loganair, Eastern and the ex-Flybe.

I did ask our driver if he could do a ‘Top Gear’ style drag race down the runway but he politely declined …..

Depending the wind, the runway can operate in either direction, swapping between ’02’ and ’20’ designations.

Inside the terminal at Southampton Airport

After my trip down the tarmac we headed into the terminal building.

A number of changes are happening at the airport this year, including reconfiguration of the duty free area. This will be extended slightly, with the area for passengers needing assistance being moved as well.

There are just nine boarding gates at Southampton Airport, although depending on aircraft size they can’t all be in use at once.

The wave-shaped building ensures that plenty of light gets into the departure lounge, which features its own waves of comfy-looking seating. The only thing missing is charging ports.

Upstairs, you’ll find the dining area with a Costa cafe, an airport-run restaurant-pub called The Olive Tree and the The Spitfire Lounge which I’ll be reviewing separately.

Where can I fly from Southampton Airport?

Passenger numbers at Southampton remain at around 50% of where they were pre-covid. This isn’t as much a pandemic story as a Flybe story, as the airline used to operate 80% of flights from Southampton.

The airport has worked hard since then to add new carriers. Airlines such as Eastern Airways and Loganair offer domestic connections whilst BA Cityflyer and and easyJet offer popular holiday routes. The BA Cityflyer operation uses aircraft which would otherwise be unused during the weekend closure of London City Airport.

The list of destinations is here and currently includes:

• Alderney
• Alicante
• Amsterdam
• Belfast
• Bergerac
• Chambery
• Dublin
• Edinburgh
• Faro
• Geneva
• Glasgow
• Guernsey
• Jersey
• Malaga
• Mallorca
• Newcastle
• Paris

If you live in London and have easy access to Waterloo or Clapham Junction railway stations, Southampton Airport is well worth checking out. There are also direct trains from Oxford, Leamington Spa, Reading and even Coventry and Birmingham.

The connection from train to plane is exceptionally fast and the terminal impressively quiet. It’s also an option for hiring a car to tour the south coast if you want to save the slow crawl in and out of central London.

Thank you to the Southampton Airport team for hosting me.