Our history
From our first flight back in 1910 to today. Take a look at our major milestones:
July 2007: We publish our online Corporate Responsibility Report 2006/07
June 2006: Ferrovial takes control of BAA and all our airports.
January 2006: Chris Butler takes over as our new Managing Director.
2005: The redeveloped departure lounge opens following a ₤5 million investment and Southampton launches its draft masterplan.
2003: We celebrate the historic milestone of one million passengers in a year.
1995: The old terminal building was demolished.
1994: The airport is renamed BAA Southampton International Airport and the new passenger terminal is opened by HRH, Prince Andrew - The Duke of York. The work took 56 weeks to complete and the whole site redevelopment cost over £27 million.
1993: Detailed planning permission was granted and construction of the new terminal began.
1990: BAA purchased the site announcing its intentions to invest £27 million in the complete redevelopment of the airport.
1988: A consortium headed by Peter de Savary bought the airport site from Mr Somers and applied for planning permission for the complete redevelopment of the airport.
1984: Airports UK Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BAA, was appointed to manage the operational activities of Southampton Airport and set about improving the facilities and attracting new services.
1970's: A economic slump led to a reduction in passenger numbers, but undeterred, a new air traffic tower was built and surveillance radar installed.
1960's: Mr J N Somer, owner at the time of an airfield in Hertfordshire, secured the future of Southampton Airport when he purchased it from Southampton Corporation. A number of airport improvements including the construction of a 1723m concrete runway were completed. In the first year of operation with the new runway, 273,247 passengers passed through the airport - four times more than the previous year.
1945: Resumption of a regular air service to the Channel Islands marked the return of the war-time aerodrome to a municipal airport.
1939: RAF Southampton was re-commissioned as HMS Raven and subsequently spent most of the war in a ground and air training role for the Royal Navy. In an attempt to disrupt the assembly of aircraft, sporadic raids were made on the airport. However, German propaganda did not quite get it right when, reporting HMS Raven had been sunk!
1936: The Spitfire prototype took off 5 March. The Spitfire aircraft were designed and built locally in Woolston and assembled and tested at Southampton Airport. The first flight records are on display at Southampton Airport.
1933: The Hampshire Aeroplane Club moved operations to the site from Hamble. One famous member was RJ Mitchell, aircraft designer, responsible for the Spitfire.
1932: Southampton Corporation purchased Atlantic Park and renamed it as Southampton Municipal Airport.
1918: The Air Ministry gave approval to set up a civil air transport system to serve both international and domestic routes with direct flights to Plymouth, London, a French port, Bristol and Bournemouth via the Isle of Wight.
1917: Stoneham Farm was requisitioned by the War office as an Aircraft Acceptance Park, but before completion the base was given to the US Navy to develop an assembly area.
1914: Public flying display, by Gustav Hamel on his Morain Saulnier Monoplane,10,000 people witnessed his aerobatics loops and tail-dives.
1910: The very first aircraft to take off from the Southampton Airport site belonged to local man, Eric Rowland Moon. Eric made and tested the Moonbeam 2 aircraft on the North Stoneham Farm Meadows. No one is entirely sure where Moonbeam 1 departed from or landed.
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