Regional carrier Loganair marked the carriage of its 350,000^th customer through Southampton Airport.

The UK’s largest regional airline gave a free surprise flight to Rachel Emmerson to commemorate the milestone, as she prepared to depart to Glasgow.

Emmerson serves in the Armed Forces as Commanding Officer of Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities’ Officer Training Corps and regularly flies to Southampton to visit her partner Colin.

Loganair flies from Southampton to five destinations including Aberdeen and Stornoway on a one-stop same aircraft service.

From July, the airline will increase the number of flights from Southampton to Newcastle up to three per day, Glasgow up to five per day and Edinburgh up to five per day offering a staggering amount of choice for customers wishing to access Scotland and the North-East of England.

Christopher Tibbett, head of airline relations and marketing at Southampton Airport said: “It’s really exciting to see Loganair hit yet another passenger milestone in Southampton.

“Only having started operations from the airport in 2020, Loganair has grown rapidly, providing ever-greater choice of fast and convenient options for South Coast travellers to reach all corners of the UK.”

Luke Lovegrove, Loganair chief commercial officer, added: “We are expecting a bumper summer at Southampton this year, so it’s great to see such a fantastic milestone reached.

“Southampton offers a great alternative to the London airports and has excellent connectivity to the wider region with the train station literally just meters from the terminal building.

“Rachel is one of many thousands of valued customers who are taking advantage of our connections in the region, and we look forward to welcoming her onboard another of our high frequency services between Southampton and Glasgow in the future.”