Southampton Airport set to unveil new routes after ‘challenging’ year
Airport bosses say more destinations will be revealed in the coming weeks
Fresh routes are on the horizon despite a “challenging” year that has left an airport still operating at a loss.
More destinations from Southampton Airport will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
Amy Smith, the airport’s new operations director, said discussions were in their final stages over new partnerships with airlines that would bring exciting new routes to the airport.
It comes as the airport looks to build on passenger growth and recover from a difficult period for the aviation industry.
She made the announcement at the Airport Consultative Committee on October 2.
The airport has already secured a replacement for its Manchester service after Loganair decided to withdraw from the route.
Low-cost provider easyJet will begin operating flights between Southampton and Manchester in December.
These will run twice a week on Mondays and Fridays, with an additional Wednesday service over Christmas and New Year.
Speaking just three-and-a-half weeks into the role, Ms Smith said: “It is never good to lose a route, but it is great to see it picked up so quickly.”
The airport has faced several setbacks in recent years and started this year dealing with the loss of airline Blue Islands.
Ms Smith said wider pressures across the aviation sector had also created challenges, including higher fuel costs and disruption linked to events in the Middle East.
She said: “We have had a challenging year; it has been challenging for the industry.
“Fuel costs are making flights more expensive and hampering demand. It has not been an easy year.
“Everything happening in the Middle East has had a knock-on effect on the industry.”
Despite that, she said passenger numbers were continuing to rise.
She told committee members: “Given that we started the year with the loss of Blue Islands and the impact that had on our operations, to be able to come back from that and still see a year-on-year sustained increase is really positive.”
The airport is also preparing for growth through larger aircraft rather than a return to the regional flying model once associated with Flybe.
The meeting heard that future growth is expected to come from airlines using bigger aircraft, meaning passenger numbers could rise significantly without a major increase in flight movements.
However, the airport remains in the red financially.
After recording a £1.7 million loss last year, Ms Smith said another difficult year is on the cards.
She said: “As we go through a period of growth and change, we need to invest in the business to deliver.
“This does mean there will be a period where our costs go up as quickly as our income.”