Solent: Southampton Airport reports strong growth in 2014
Southampton Airport welcomed 1,830,257 passengers in 2014, which was 6.2% higher than the previous year. 43% of passengers were domestic travellers, 37% international and 20% were on flights to and from the Channel Islands.
The biggest area of growth was the Channel Islands with 16.6% growth, which was driven by Blue Islands investing in larger aircraft and passengers choosing to use Southampton Airport as an easy way to get to London via their fast train links. Other routes with the most positive growth during the year included Manchester, Belfast, Newcastle, Dublin, Amsterdam, Malaga, Verona and Geneva.
Managing director Dave Lees said: “2014 was a strong year at Southampton Airport with passenger numbers at their highest level since 2008. The growth was driven by higher numbers of passengers per aircraft, especially with Flybe, plus strong demand to and from the Channel Islands.”
2015 sees the introduction of two new summer destinations from the airport with Flybe - Milan and Corsica; a peak summer service to Lorient with Eastern Airways; and the addition of more flights to Finnish Lapland in December with Canterbury, Transun and Santa’s Lapland.
