Southampton Airport's extended runway attracts first new routes

Two new holiday routes are set to take off from Southampton Airport now it has a longer runway.

EasyJet will start weekly flights to Spanish city, Alicante in March and Faro, southern Portugal in July.

The airport has added a 164m (538ft) extension between its existing runway and its northern boundary fence.

The airport's extended tarmac, completed in September, means larger planes, including the Airbus 320 and Boeing 737 can use the airport.

The airport faced local opposition concerned about the noise and disturbance caused by larger planes.

Matt Hazelwood, chief commercial officer at AGS Airports, which owns Southampton Airport said: "We embarked on our recently completed runway extension project to ensure the future viability of the airport.

"Attracting more routes and services to Southampton is key to the airport's future success and I am pleased to see that our plans are beginning to bear fruit."

The new weekly route to Alicante will start on 31 March and run throughout the summer on a Sunday.

Flights to Faro start on 6 June and will run once a week on a Thursday throughout the peak summer season.

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