Southampton Airport

About Southampton Airport

Southampton Airport (IATA: SOU, ICAO: EGHI) is a regional airport in Hampshire, on the edge of Eastleigh and about 4 miles (6 km) north-north-east of Southampton city centre. It sits beside junction 5 of the M27, close to where the M27 meets the M3, and has its own railway station on the South West Main Line a short walk from the terminal. The airport handles domestic and short-haul European flights for business and leisure travellers across Hampshire.

UK Civil Aviation Authority figures show that Southampton handled 885,186 terminal passengers in 2025, up almost 4 per cent on 2024. That remains around half the level of 2019, when the airport handled more than 1.7 million passengers, most of them on Flybe services.

The airport is operated by AGS Airports, which also runs Aberdeen and Glasgow airports. Since January 2025 AGS has been owned by AviAlliance, a subsidiary of the Canadian pension investor PSP Investments. Southampton has a single runway, 02/20, which is 1,887 metres long with an asphalt surface. A 164 metre extension at its northern end opened in 2023, with the aim of attracting more airlines and new routes.

How to get to Southampton Airport

By train

Southampton Airport Parkway station is about 99 steps from the terminal and is reached by a footbridge with lifts, so the walk takes less than a minute. South Western Railway trains call at the station, and the airport gives these typical journey times:

• Southampton city centre: about 7 minutes
• Winchester: about 10 minutes
• Bournemouth: about 36 minutes
• Reading: about 49 minutes
• Portsmouth: about 60 minutes
• London Waterloo: about 69 minutes

By road

The airport is just off junction 5 of the M27. From the motorway, follow the A335 towards Eastleigh and Southampton Airport, then the airport signs. Drivers coming from Winchester on the M3 join the M27 and leave at the same junction. From central Southampton, the A335 leads north to the airport. For satellite navigation, use the postcode SO18 2NL.

Parking is available on site, including short stay, long stay, priority and meet and greet options, and the short stay car park is used for picking up and dropping off. Several car hire companies operate at the airport, and taxis are available outside arrivals.

By bus and coach

• Uni-link U1A and U1C: frequent services linking the airport with the University of Southampton, the city centre and the waterfront. The airport says the journey to the city centre takes around 35 to 40 minutes.
• Bluestar 24: to Hedge End, from the stop at Southampton Airport Parkway station.

Terminal and facilities

Southampton Airport has one passenger terminal. Services listed by the airport include:

• The Spitfire Lounge, a quiet lounge for departing passengers.
• Priority security for departures and a priority passport lane for arriving passengers.
• Free Wi-Fi, with a longer free session available after signing up.
• Shopping and food, including WHSmith and World Duty Free, which offers a shop and collect service.
• Special assistance for passengers with reduced mobility, with a dedicated desk. Passengers should tell their airline at least 48 hours before travelling.
• Other services: a help point, first aid, cash machines before and after security, left luggage and a lost property desk.

Airlines and destinations

Southampton's route network is mostly domestic and short-haul. Destinations include UK cities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle, the Channel Islands of Alderney, Guernsey and Jersey, Belfast and Dublin, and European cities including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Geneva and Paris. There are also flights to holiday destinations such as Alicante, Faro and Majorca.

The airlines listed by the airport in 2026 are:

• Aer Lingus
• Aurigny
• easyJet, which has been adding routes and will start a twice-weekly service to Paris Charles de Gaulle on 25 October 2026.
• KLM, linking Southampton with its Amsterdam hub.
• Loganair
• TUI

History

Aviation at the site dates back to 1910, when local pilot Edwin Rowland Moon flew his monoplane from the meadows at Eastleigh. During the First World War the airfield was used for aircraft acceptance and was later handed to the United States Navy. In 1932 it became Southampton Municipal Airport, and on 5 March 1936 the prototype Supermarine Spitfire made its first flight there. In the Second World War the site served as the naval air station RNAS Eastleigh, returning to civil use in 1946.

A concrete runway was built in 1963, and a new terminal opened in 1994. The airport was owned by BAA, later Heathrow Airport Holdings, until October 2014, when it was sold to AGS Airports along with Aberdeen and Glasgow. Flybe operated about 95 per cent of Southampton's flights until it went into administration on 5 March 2020, and the airport has since rebuilt its network with other airlines. The runway extension came into use in August 2023, and AviAlliance completed its purchase of AGS Airports in January 2025.