British Airways announce routes from Southampton
British Airways has made a surprising return to Southampton Airport and will fly to 11 European destinations next summer. However, many routes out of Manchester have been cancelled.
The flights will run between May 1 to October 31 in 2021, with destinations including Berlin, Bergerac, Faro, Florence, Ibiza, Limoges, Malaga, Mykonos, Nice and Palma de Mallorca.
There are also flights to Edinburgh, a route BA abandoned over 15 years ago, when at the time it also operated an old Executive Club lounge at the small regional airport in Hampshire.
The new flights may be bad news for Manchester, but are a shot in the arm for Southampton airport, which following the collapse of FlyBE in April meant that the airport went from 35 departures a day, down to one. There are now 3 or 4 a day, with Loganair taking over the Edinburgh route with a once a day flight.
The new flights will be operated by its BA Cityflyer subsidiary using its Embraer 190 aircraft.
The aircraft will position from Edinburgh and Berlin for the mostly weekend flights, which has resulted in some odd once a week routes, such as flying from Edinburgh just once a week on a Friday night, after the aircraft has flown up from London City.
To accommodate these flights, British Airways is cancelling many flights which have previously run from London Stansted and Manchester over summer weekends. These use BA's Embraer aircraft which normally fly out of London City Airport during the week but are 'spare' at the weekend when city is closed.
| British Airways Southampton routes |
| Out from SOU | Inbound to SOU | |
|---|---|---|
| Berlin | Sunday 1320-1615 | Friday 2140-2235
|
| Edinburgh | Sunday 0900-1030 | Friday 1915-2050
|
| Bergerac EGC | Sat 1420 Sun 0915 Tue 1730 | Sat 1015 & 1730 Tue 1620
|
| Faro | Sat 1430 | Sat 1840-2125
|
| Florence | Sat 1440 Sun 0730 | Sat 1835 Sun 1125
|
| Ibiza | Sat 0645 Sun 0755 | Sat 1055 & 1245
|
| Limoges LIG | Sat 1130-1355 | 1435-1500
|
| Malaga AGP | Sat 1505 Sun 1420 | Sat 1215-1355 only
|
| Mykonos JMK | Sat 1000-1550 | Sat 1520-1715
|
| Nice | Sat 1545-1850 | Sat 1935-2030
|
| Palma | Sat 0805 Sun 0800 | Sat 1145 & 1220 Sun 1210
|
All timings offered without liability, and timings subject to change. Check with BA.
Note that the Mykonos route is such a long route, at nearly 4 hours, it is believed it will attract extra status credits.
Many years ago British Airways Southampton Lounge was a small, and cute lounge. However, it closed in 2008 with the advent of BA Connect.
More details and a review of the British Airways Southampton Lounge Now closed.
However with the original own brand BA lounge closing many years ago, Silver and Gold card holders, as well as passengers in Business Class, are expected to be able to use the Southampton Airport Spitfire lounge, previously called the Breeze Priority lounge.
Southampton Airport Spitfire lounge
The Southampton Spitfire Lounge, has just undergone a large revamp, and now looks stylish with a new gin bar. There is now hot food during the day, a new work table, and more seating in the rear room. Food is remarkably good for a regional lounge, with a full cooked English. By lunchtime this turns into pasta or a curry, plus often a pizza. Occasionally, during the week, you may be there on a 'sliders' day, when there are little mini burgers, which are great.
When the lounge was revamped, it added a new gin bar, behind reception. You can buy speciality gins, including many made in Hampshire, for £3 to £5 (£1.75 if ordered in advance on the Southampton Airport website). On the menu are Hampshire Gin, Winchester Gin, and Isle of Wight Gin, among many others including Dorset Conker Gin and Monkey 47.
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