A special Spitfire flypast has marked the 10th anniversary of the runway reopening at Solent Airport, a move which saved aviation businesses from closure.

The airport was in a state of disrepair and deemed unsafe when Fareham Borough Council bought the Daedalus site from Homes England for £1.

At the celebrations at the airport on Monday (March 10), former councillor Jon Butts, who was part of the campaign team to keep Daedalus open back in 2010, said: “The airfield was brought back from near death.” 

He added because the runway was resurfaced it has brought jobs to the area, including training future pilots needed for children’s air ambulances to pipeline inspectors. 

The site has become a hub for aviation-related businesses and jobs and is one of the few hard-standing runaways at a small airport on the south coast.

Alderman Seán Woodward, former leader of Fareham Borough Council, cut the ribbon opening the runway 10 years ago on March 10, 2015, at Hangar 6.

He said Daedalus has brought prosperity to the area; from the Fareham Innovation Centre with 58 businesses and 350 staff, to the many other aviation-related businesses on site.

Some of the businesses based at Daedalus and attending the celebrations said it is a hub for aviation.

Among them was Brian Cook, owner of Bournemouth Avionics, an aviation engineering company which moved from Goodwood Airfield. He said if it wasn’t for the runway, his company would not have been able to expand from a one-man band to employing six people today. 

He said he also employs apprentices from CEMAST, an aviation engineering college on the Daedalus site, at his company.

Mr Cook said Daedalus is unique, good for his small business, providing a hard tarmac airfield where most others have grass.

Euro Flight Training, operating from Hanger 6 where the runway was opened 10 years ago, trains private and commercial pilots. Jack Lewis, 26 from Lydd in Kent, travels to Solent Airport to train and said he is very grateful for Euro Flight which has a pay-as-you-go scheme for trainee pilots. It also means he can work to pay for his pilot training while hoping to be a search and rescue pilot. 

The rich history at Daedalus was an important part of the celebrations – with the Spitfire flown by Matt Jones stopping by to say hello. 

The airfield opened over 100 years ago in 1917 as a Naval Seaplane Training School. Daedalus has been part of the local communities of Fareham, Lee-on-the-Solent and Gosport for more than a century.

As an allied air force base, Daedalus saw the largest number of sortees fly out of the UK; nearly 400 sortees flew out on D-Day. Some 175 pilots flew out of Daedalus for Operation Overlord in June 1944.

Terry Coombes, chairman of the Aviation and Heritage Group, said: “It’s very important to keep Solent airport open for flying.”

He said he sells the virtues of the airport everywhere he goes, all over the world. The group holds a vast collection of aviation photographs, memorabilia and artefacts.