BUSINESS is set to soar at Southampton Airport after Europe’s biggest regional airline revealed it was pulling out of Bournemouth.

Flybe opened a new base at Bournemouth Airport earlier this year – but the company is ending flights from the resort next March and expanding its operations in Southampton.

The city is set to experience an increase in the number of flights and passengers as a result of Flybe’s decision.

No figures have been released but an airport spokesman said: “We anticipate that many of the passengers who have used FlyBe at Bournemouth will choose to use Southampton Airport in the future.

“It has excellent rail links from Bournemouth and Poole as well as easy access by motorway.”

Simon Letts, leader of Southampton City Council, added: “It’s excellent news for the airport, the city and the region.

“Getting from the plane to your car can take one-and-half hours at Gatwick by the time you’ve gone through all the procedures, but I’ve been in my car within ten minutes of landing at Southampton.”

Cllr Letts said the airport was currently under-utilised.

“It does really good business in the mornings and evenings but there are plenty of spare landing and take-off slots during the day,”

Stewart Dunn, chief executive of Hampshire Chamber of Trade, also welcomed the announcement that Flybe had decided to focus on Southampton.

It comes just weeks after the airline launched its new daily service from the city to Dusseldorf in Germany.

Mr Dunn said: “Flybe’s latest announcement is excellent news for Southampton and Hampshire as a whole.

“It’s been encouraging to see the introduction of new routes from Southampton and a further expansion of airport services can only be good for businesses and visitors to the area.”

Flybe currently flies from Bournemouth to Amsterdam, Dublin, Glasgow, Jersey and Paris, but is due to pull out next March after only a year at the airport.

The company says it carried out an “exhaustive” review of all routes as it drew up its summer 2016 flying schedule, recently published.

Flybe’s chief commercial officer Paul Simmons said it had decided to improve the business by expanding its operations in Southampton.

“This will enable more frequency and more choice to our customers through consolidating our south coast operation into one airport,” he said.

“As a result, we regret that we are unable to continue to operate the leisure routes we flew from Bournemouth.

“The Flybe routes currently operating out of Bournemouth are already offered out of Southampton. The airline has added frequency to its Dublin, Manchester and Dusseldorf services next summer, resulting in increased passenger capacity.”

Paul Knight, managing director at Bournemouth Airport, said he was “extremely disappointed” at the company’s decision.

“We understand that Flybe has chosen to focus its network on its long-established hub at Southampton,” he said.

PANEL Key changes affecting Southampton: An expansion of Flybe’s winter schedule will see the return of routes to Alicante, Faro and Malaga.

Flights to Alicante, Chambery, Faro, Geneva and Malaga will continue until the end of April to cater for passengers travelling over the Easter holiday period.

Flybe’s 2016 summer schedule from Southampton will comprise a total of 21 routes, offering passengers a choice of up to 289 flights a week to a range of destinations.

The daily Dusseldorf service will continue until the summer and there will be extra flights to and from Dublin and Manchester.

Southampton will also see the return of seasonal flights to several regional airports in France including Avignon, Bordeaux and Brest.