The airport is located 3.5 nautical miles (6.5 km; 4.0 mi) north-northeast of central Southampton.

[1] The southern tip of the runway lies within the Southampton unitary authority boundary with most of the airport, including all of the buildings, within the Borough of Eastleigh.

[5] When Flybe was purchased and relaunched, it was announced that they would start serving Southampton Airport from the 23 July 2022.

Aviation began at the site in 1910 when pioneer pilot Edwin Rowland Moon used the meadows belonging to North Stoneham Farm as a takeoff and landing spot for his monoplane, Moonbeam Mk II.

[8] At the peak of the American presence, some 4,000 officers and men were billeted in tents and huts along the adjacent London to Southampton railway line.

[8] After the war, the site became a transit camp for refugees, mainly Russian, who wished to sail to America from the port of Southampton.

At the height of its use, 20,000 passed through Atlantic Park in 1928 but then numbers started to fall away, leading to the closure of the hostel in 1931.

Sadly, despite its obvious historical significance, this 84-year-old building is now set for demolition and redevelopment with modern industrial units.

[15][16] The military site was transferred to naval command in 1939, renamed RNAS Eastleigh (HMS Raven), and spent most of the war in a ground and air training role for the Royal Navy.

[12] The Cierva Autogiro Company rented portions of the Cunliffe-Owen plants from 1946, but had to move to another location on the field when it was acquired by Briggs.

In 1951, Saunders-Roe took over the interests of Cierva Autogyro and built a rotor testing building on the eastern side of the airfield, which is now derelict.

[18] During the 1950s, a mainstay of business for the airport was the cross-channel car ferry service operated by Silver City Airways using Bristol Freighters and Superfreighters.

[12] This forward-thinking programme encouraged most of the airlines at Bournemouth (Hurn) airport to move to Southampton in the mid-1960s.

[20] In 2016 the airport won the Airport of the Year award of the European Regional Airlines Association, having demonstrated extraordinary involvement with the local community and reducing its carbon footprint, whilst growing and expanding in a highly competitive market.

[21] In March of the same year, Aer Lingus Regional announced it would fly from Southampton to Cork Airport with an ATR 72, operated by Stobart Air.

[22] On 5 June Air Force One touched down in Southampton carrying then president, Donald Trump.

[26] Not long after, easyJet announced the third summer route, a twice weekly service to Palma de Mallorca.

[citation needed] In September 2019, the airport announced plans to extend its runway north by 164m to allow it to support larger aircraft which would enable longer routes.

Attendees included then Aviation Minister Baroness Vere as well as then MP for Eastleigh, Paul Holmes.