Southampton Airport has celebrated the start of construction on a 17 million GBP project to extend the northern end of its runway by 164 metres.
The 164-metre extension to the northern end of the runway will allow the airport to attract new airlines and offer new routes.
The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by the airport’s Operations Director, Steve Szalay and Head of Planning and Development, Steve Thurston as well as by James Hindes, Managing Director for VolkerFitzpatrick, the contractor for the runway.
In addition, local politicians, Paul Holmes, Member of Parliament for Eastleigh and Councillor Keith House, Leader of Eastleigh Borough Council were present for the start of construction.
Steve Szalay, Operations Director at Southampton Airport, said:I’m delighted to welcome Paul and Keith to the airport to mark the start of our runway construction. The extension represents an exciting, £17m investment into the South’s economy, will help safeguard our region’s connectivity, and protect thousands of jobs connected to our operations. I want to thank everyone in the community who supported these plans, which will unlock major economic development in Eastleigh.
This project was approved by Eastleigh Borough Council in April 2021.
Construction on the runway began on 3 April 2023, with works taking place at night to avoid any disruption to flight operations. The project is scheduled for completion on 17 August this year.
