9:14am Thursday 12th November 2009
By Gareth Lewis
BOSSES at Southampton Airport are to lavish £7m on new facilities.
A new restaurant and café are to be constructed on the main concourse, while the departure lounge eatery will also be refurbished at a total cost of £3m.
At the same time, a new £2m footbridge has been installed at the railway station next to the airport terminal.
More than £1m is being invested in energy saving initiatives and a further £830,000 on new toilets to replace 15-year-old facilities dating back to when the terminal first opened in 1994.
Construction started earlier this month on the new landside restaurant, which is being named after the aircraft designer, RJ Mitchell, who built the Spitfire and tested the prototype at Southampton Airport in 1936.
Called Mitchell’s Kitchen & Bar, it will be opened along with a Costa Coffee at the end of the year, with the airside outlets following before summer 2010.
The new bridge, which was developed with South West Trains, includes a covered walkway with lifts, making access to and from the airport significantly easier for passengers with luggage, children or reduced mobility. Air conditioning units will be replaced with 50 per cent more efficient versions at a cost of £400,000, while the airport’s glazed roof will also be replaced, reducing sun glare and therefore further cutting the need for air conditioning.
A new lighting system in the car park will also offer environmental benefits, allowing lights to be switched off in unused areas.
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