Hampshire airport named as best in Europe

Southampton Airport has been awarded the Airport of the Year Award by the European Regions Airline Association.

The announcement was made at the ERA awards dinner in Madrid last Wednesday.

This year the airport has announced four new airlines start services including KLM and bmi regional, and has introduced new rouites including Lyon and Munich.

It also recently announced record passenger numbers for this summer, with 430,000 passengers passing through in July and August - an increase of 14.3 per cent from the same period last year.

Southampton Airport managing director Dave Lees said: ‘We are over the moon to have been chosen as ERA’s Airport of the Year.

‘It is a true testament to all the hard work that the team here at Southampton has put in over the past year.

‘We would like to thank the ERA for this wonderful award and all the passengers who continue to travel through the airport, this award could not have been achieved without you.’

ERA director general Simon McNamara said: ‘Southampton Airport, the winner of this year’s award, has demonstrated extraordinary involvement with the local community, linking up with schools, introducing a new assistance desk and a seating area for passengers with reduced mobility and reducing its carbon footprint by 13 per cent, while at the same time growing and expanding in a highly competitive market.’