Southampton Airport seeks 800 sq m terminal extension under permitted development

The plan adds space inside the terminal, not runway or routes. It would give passengers somewhere to wait before boarding larger aircraft. It asks Eastleigh Borough Council to confirm the works need no fresh planning permission.

An 800 sq m extension, just under the 15% limit

Southampton Airport wants to extend its passenger terminal by 800 sq m. The site is an area known as Stand 6, next to the existing building on Mitchell Way in Eastleigh.

AGS Airports owns the airport. It has not filed a conventional planning application. Instead, it has asked Eastleigh Borough Council to confirm the works fall within the airport's permitted development rights. The request uses a Lawful Development Certificate.

The route depends on floorspace arithmetic. The original terminal dates from 1994 and covers 6,176 sq m. A previous extension added 124 sq m. The new building would take cumulative additional floorspace to 924 sq m. That is 14.96% of the original terminal, just below the 15% threshold cited in the submission.

That 15% reading is the airport's, not the council's. The council has not issued a decision on the application.

Larger aircraft, tighter waiting areas

AGS says airlines need the space because they increasingly operate aircraft carrying around 200 passengers. Those planes replace 70-seat regional aircraft that once dominated. That is close to three times the seats per departure.

The change also alters the queue inside the building. Under the current layout, up to 200 passengers can wait in a controlled pre-boarding area for about 15 minutes. They wait there so they can board quickly once arriving passengers have left the aircraft. Larger aircraft cut the number of movements an airline needs. But they deliver passengers in concentrated groups. That puts pressure on security, boarding and waiting space.

Southampton handles between 800,000 and 900,000 passengers a year across 15 destinations. These include Paris, Mallorca and Barcelona. Aer Lingus, easyJet, KLM and Loganair are among the operators. The airport predominantly uses Embraers and ATRs, but has space for Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s.

An extended runway opened in 2023, adding 164 m.

What the extension is meant to do

The extension aims to give the airport more room for passengers waiting to board larger aircraft.

Councillor Steve Broomfield sits on the council's airport consultative committee. He welcomed the idea. "It enables the airport to be better able to process modern, more environmentally efficient aircraft and the resulting increase in passenger numbers," he said.

The airport floated a separate set of terminal changes in February. These included a passenger walkway, a new domestic baggage reclaim and a second floor.

The £350m programme behind the plan

The terminal plan comes as AGS runs a £350m transformation programme across Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton airports. WSP holds the lead development designer role for Southampton, working with Pascall + Watson. The design phase aims to shape layout, passenger flow and the terminal experience.

What happens next

Public consultation on the Southampton application runs until 18 November. Eastleigh Borough Council is due to decide by 10 December.

If the council confirms the works fall under permitted development rights, the extension can proceed without a conventional planning application. The December decision settles which of those two routes the airport takes.