A VISION to attract more commercial flights to a Hampshire airport has been unveiled.

Councillor Sean Woodward, leader of Fareham Borough Council, said it wants to attract more scheduled flights to extra destinations at Solent Airport at Daedalus in Fareham in a bid to provide new connections from the south of England.

He said: “We want to expand our operations and offer flights from destinations which will help to develop Daedalus, proving that business is indeed booming at the airport.

“We don’t want to compete with Southampton Airport and want to offer flights to smaller city airports. It’s all about boosting the local economy.”

Potential destinations include Exeter, Swansea and Cardiff and will join proposals to create a daily service with Alderney which would be operated by new start-up Air Alderney.

The airport will also cater for aircraft with up to twenty seats and could envisage a small terminal being built in the future to accommodate passengers.

Maureen Frost, chief executive of Hampshire Chamber of Commerce welcomed the news saying: “The introduction of commercial flights from Solent Airport at Daedalus is welcomed on the proviso the destinations do not duplicate the offer at Southampton.”

Caroline Dinenage, the MP for Gosport added: "Opening up flights to a new range of customers could potentially be great news for the Enterprise Zone and the economy of our local area more broadly. 

"These are interesting plans and I will follow developments closely."

The scheme follows a rebranding of Daedalus last year as Solent Airport which is part of a £50m masterplan to transform the site into a business airport and enterprise zone which could eventually create 3,500 jobs over the next decade.

Current tenants of the airport include aircraft manufacturers Britten Norman, Atlas Helicopters, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Solent Microlight Group and Portsmouth Naval Flying Association.