HOPES of naming Southampton International Airport after Spitfire designer R J Mitchell could have crash-landed.

Last night Eastleigh councillors backed a call to rename the airport as a salute to the Southampton creator, pictured right, of the fighter plane.

However, the proposal seems to have nose-dived before a letter with the council's plea for the name change even lands on the desk of airport owners BAA.

In a statement to the Daily Echo an airport spokesman said: "We understand the desire to celebrate R J Mitchell's achievements and we do this in a number of ways here at Southampton Airport. These include the Spitfire Loop and Mitchell Way roads at the airport and a replica of the prototype Spitfire on the airport roundabout.

"We also have the original flight plans from the first flight of the Spitfire on public display in the airport terminal.

"We recently hosted the re-enactment of the first flight of the Spitfire on March 5 which included a flypast of parts of Eastleigh and Southampton.

"To help young people learn about R J Mitchell's Spitfire design, we also held a Hampshire-wide Spitfire Schools Challenge.

"We are also currently sponsoring a Spitfire Exhibition at Eastleigh Museum, which opened this week and will run until May 27. However, we will not be re-naming the airport as we believe that the traditional, geography-based name helps passengers to easily understand our location, especially our international visitors."

Councillors hope that airport bosses will think again and honour the man whose invention helped Britain retain its freedom.

Councillor Steve Broomfield won support from all corners of the council chamber as he called for the airport to be named R J Mitchell International Airport in "memory of the designer of this iconic and war-winning aeroplane".

He spoke of the pride and passion shown when five Spitfires flew over Southampton, Eastleigh and Southampton Water to mark the 70th anniversary of the first flight of the aircraft from the airport.