Southampton Airport held a ‘ground-breaking event’ on March 31 to mark the start of construction on its controversial £17m runway extension project.
Article continues after this message...
The extension, originally approved after hours of debate by Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) in April 2021 after originally being rejected by the council’s own Local Area Committee, will be 164m long and located at the northern end of the runway.
The airport said construction will take place at night to avoid disrupting flight operations and is expected to be completed in mid August. It hopes to attract new airlines and offer new routes to more distant destinations as a result, potentially using larger narrow-body planes such as the Airbus 320 and Boeing 737.
Cllr Keith House, EBC leader (Lib Dem), said: "Eastleigh Borough Council has a 30-year record of recognising the importance of Southampton Airport to our regional economy. The short new start-up strip will secure the airport for the future.”
Eastleigh MP Paul Holmes (Con), claimed “widespread community support” for the project, and cited its potential to boost regional connectivity and economic development, “especially now that Solent Freeport has been announced”.
While the scheme has enjoyed wide support, it has also been widely opposed (including by nearby local authorities including Southampton) particularly on the grounds of climate change and noise – even to the point of an ultimately unsuccessful legal challenge which was crowdfunded by the Group Opposed to the Expansion of Southampton Airport.