Southampton sets its sights on record numbers

Southampton Airport has set its sights on breaking records for the upcoming Easter period.

Over 33,000 flyers are expected to head abroad for the sun this Easter, but many more will be using the airport as a link to UK destinations, including Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester.

The record numbers of Easter flyers will have noted that the growing south coast airport is offering a number of routes to popular European destinations including Alicante, Brussels and Malaga.

A BAA media statement read: "Passengers can 'hop' over to Germany, where the Easter bunny originates from back in the 16th century. Passengers can now fly directly to Dusseldorf and Hanover in Germany with Flybe and a new route to Frankfurt will be launching later this month."

Southampton Airport is the 20th largest in the UK and is actually located in Eastleigh.

It is one of seven UK airports owned by BAA, which has recently come under scrutiny from the Office of Fair Trading for its dominance of the UK air travel market.

However, the leading airport operator welcomed its referral to the Competition commission and The Telegraph recently revealed it plans to expand its empire by bidding for airports in Portugal and the US.