London Southend, UK to again see scheduled pax operations

easyJet (London Luton) is returning to London Southend Airport over the 2023 IATA northern summer, offering flights from the airport to Faro, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca (Majorca), and Amsterdam Schiphol. While easyJet flew to Faro, Malaga and Majorca from Southend last summer, it last flew the Amsterdam route in March 2020.

In 2019, London Southend Airport was serving around two million passengers annually with easyJet, Ryanair UK, and Wizz Air UK flying direct to around 50 European airports. In 2021, Wizz Air and Ryanair ended Southend services and last year, easyJet, which formerly had a substantial presence at the airport, only offered a combined 12 roundtrip flights a week to Faro, Malaga and Majorca over the summer before pausing flights again.

However, London Southend has secured a new multi-year agreement with easyJet that will see it increase its flight frequencies at the airport by 30% this summer and restore the Amsterdam service. The airline returns to Southend on March 29 to resume flights to Malaga, which will operate up to four times a week through to October 28. On May 1, summer flights to Majorca restart, operating up to five times a week through to October 28. Between May 24 and October 27, easyJet will operate up to four roundtrips a week on both the Southend - Faro and Southend - Amsterdam sectors.

“This announcement illustrates our commitment to rebuilding our fantastic airport for the future," said Southend's CEO, John Upton, via a media statement. "We remain committed to strengthening our unrivalled short-haul network," added Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK country manager.

On January 23, Southend Airport said the previous week was its busiest since June 2021, with 1,148 aircraft movements. The airport, which is now owned by Esken Limited (formerly Stobart Group Limited), was the UK's third busiest in the 1960s but last year only recorded 5% of its 2019 passenger numbers. In addition to the passenger airlines scaling back their operations and closing bases at the airport, Amazon also ended its nighttime cargo flights to the airport last September.

However, easyJet's agreement with London Southend Airport will see it gradually scale up flights from the airport over the next few years. The airline says the airport has "an attractive and growing catchment area" and that it will pursue cost-effective operations and proven routes.