Vectisman: That is simply not true, in fact I am a vocal supporter of SOU and believe it to be an untapped goldmine. If I blow of some steam at the frustration that SOU could have EZY operating a small base serving some useful destinations if some long overdue investment was finally forthcoming then that is understandable.
My personal view (not to mention of others on this forum):
- There is room to extend runway to the north (within the airport's existing demise). If I was a truly ambitious MD then I would be looking to buy the railway works and extend further but no just a little bit extra within the existing demise.
- More stands are needed to accommodate numerous larger aircraft to be in at the same time (this can be achieved in many different ways). Buy the RM depot? Relocate that ridiculously placed car park? Build some stands on the land to the North West?
- Planes having to backtrack down the runway is not only an unnecessary constraint on operations but also dangerous (not to mention embarrassing). A strip of tarmac is not expensive. Spain builds whole airports in the middle of deserts for no good reason. Are we less ambitious than them? BOH had 40mil ploughed into it. Again is SOU less ambitious than them? We are talking about some bloody tarmac.
- The ILS is so ancient that it’s no longer being managed by the aviation governing body (we are not talking about Apple here, bloody NATS who themselves are hardly at the forefront of technology) Apparently this year. Has it been turned off?
- The runway lights are crap. You get the picture and all these points have been talked to death.
Seeing as my opinions (supported by other people) are too honest for you Vectisman, let me highlight a pertinent (and quite hilarious) extract from the article: -
"before taking up the planning and development director role at Southampton Airport, which was based around completing the airport’s master plan. Nine years on, he has never looked back".
Anyone who has studied the master plan will tell you that not a single element of their master plan has ever been implemented and now it all makes sense why (he was in charge). I think it would have been more appropriate for the writer to have said "Nine years on, he has never looked forward". There are numerous other gems in the article as well, such as him claiming credit for investment in the highways and the railway station. Like I said a few pages ago, the only meaningful investment has been in the retail element and the parking (i.e the two things that fleece the passengers). I am more than happy to be convinced otherwise