London Southend Airport is an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer r ...

situated on the outskirts of

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north ...

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

, England, approximately from the

centre of London Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

. The airport straddles the boundaries between the city of

and the

Rochford District Rochford is a local government district in Essex, England. It is named for one of its main settlements, Rochford, though the major centre of population in the district is the town of Rayleigh. Other places in the district include Hockley, Ashi ...

. Southend was London's third-busiest airport from the 1960s until the end of the 1970s, when it was overtaken in passenger numbers by

London Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations a ...

.EasyJet Helps Make Southend London's Sixth Major Airport
London.net, published 16 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

, published 16 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011 Following its purchase by

Stobart Group Esken Limited (), formerly Stobart Group Limited, is a British infrastructure, aviation and energy company, with operations in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company is registered in Guernsey but has its operational head office in Lond ...

in 2008, a development programmeLondon Southend Airport's new control tower operational
BBC, published 4 April 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011 provided a new

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output devi ...

and

control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...

, extended the

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete ...

, and added a connection to

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

via a regular rail service running between

Liverpool Street Station Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the ...

and Southend Airport Station on the

Shenfield–Southend line The Shenfield–Southend line is a branch line off the Great Eastern Main Line in Essex, in the east of England. It links in the west to , in Southend-on-Sea, in the east. The vast majority of services connect to or from the Great Eastern Main L ...

, continuing on to

Southend Victoria Southend Victoria railway station is the eastern terminus of the Shenfield to Southend Line in the East of England, a branch off the Great Eastern Main Line, and is one of the primary stations serving the resort city of Southend-on-Sea, Essex (th ...

Overview

Description

The airport is located between

and

Rochford Rochford is a town in Essex, England, north of Southend-on-Sea, from London and from Chelmsford, the county town. At the 2011 census, the civil parish, which includes the town and London Southend Airport, had a population of 8,471. History ...

town centres, north of Southend, in the county of

, east of central London. It has a single long asphalt runway on a south-west/north-east axis and is capable of handling passenger aircraft the size of the

Boeing 767 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body aircraft developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified o ...

and similar

wide-body aircraft A wide-body aircraft, also known as a twin-aisle aircraft, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is . In the typical wide-body economy c ...

. The current terminal was completed in February 2012. The terminal has since been extended by 90 metres, almost tripling the facility in size. The former terminal now provides facilities for the handling of executive aircraft, with a business lounge and conference rooms. A four-star

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...

hotel adjacent to the airport entrance, owned by the Stobart Group, opened on 1 October 2012, at that time having the only rooftop restaurant in Essex. London Southend was voted the best airport in Britain for three consecutive years by consumer group ''

Which? ''Which?'' is a United Kingdom brand name that promotes informed consumer choice in the purchase of goods and services by testing products, highlighting inferior products or services, raising awareness of consumer rights and offering independ ...

'', in 2013, 2014 and again in 2015, and best London airport for 6 consecutive years 2013-2019.

Operations

Southend Airport handles mainly scheduled passenger,

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the re ...

, cargo and business flights, with some pilot training (both

fixed-wing aircraft A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air flying machine, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using wings that generate lift caused by the aircraft's forward airspeed and the shape of the wings. Fixed-wing aircraft are dist ...

and

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

) and private aircraft flying. The airport is run by London Southend Airport Co Ltd, which employs more than 150 people directly. Due to expansion, there were over 500 more people working at the airport in summer 2012 compared with summer 2011. Southend Airport has a

Civil Aviation Authority A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...

(CAA) Ordinary Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (London Southend Airport Company Limited). Southend Airport has an excellent weather record, and is used by airlines as a diversion alternative when adverse weather or incidents cause other London airports to be closed. Airline ground handling is provided by the Stobart Group-owned Stobart Aviation Services, while the Stobart Jet Centre handles executive aircraft using the facility. Companies located within the airport boundary employ more than 800 workers. Previously British World Airlines had its head office at Viscount House at London Southend Airport.

EasyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate air ...

began operating services by opening a base at Southend in April 2012Stobart Group strikes deal with easyJet at Southend Airport
rail.co, published 17 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011 and Irish carrier

Aer Lingus Regional Aer Lingus Regional is an Aer Lingus brand which has been used for commuter and regional flights. Aer Lingus Regional scheduled passenger services operate primarily from Ireland to the United Kingdom, France, and the Channel Islands, and also ...

began regular flights to Dublin in May, resulting in a rapid increase in airport passenger numbers during 2012, with 721,661 using the airport in that year, 969,912 in 2013 and 1,102,358 in 2014. The following year saw a decline to 900,648 and again to 874,549 in 2016, while 2017 saw passenger numbers increase more than 25% to 1,095,914. In 2011, the airport operator planned to reach passenger numbers of two million per year by 2020. In 2018, Southend Airport saw an increase of nearly 400,000 passengers over the previous year's total, with just over 1.4 million passengers using the airport, the highest annual total at the airport to that date.

History

Early years

The airfield was established by the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. It was the largest flying ground in Essex, with the greatest number of units. In May 1915 the

Royal Navy Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps ...

(RNAS) took over until 4 June 1916, when it became RFC Rochford. It was designated as night fighter station and many sorties were flown against

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

airship raiders, including LZ38 on 31 May 1915. Around 1919, the station closed and reverted to farmland, which it remained as until the 1930s. The airport was officially opened as a municipal airport on 18 September 1935 by the

Under-Secretary of State for Air The Under-Secretary of State for Air was a junior ministerial post in the United Kingdom Government, supporting the Secretary of State for Air in his role of managing the Royal Air Force. It was established on 10 January 1919, replacing the previou ...

, Sir Philip Sassoon, who arrived in his

de Havilland Leopard Moth The de Havilland DH.85 Leopard Moth is a three-seat high-wing cabin monoplane designed and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company in 1933. Design and construction It was a successor to the DH.80 Puss Moth and replaced it on the company's ...

. In 1939, the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of Stat ...

requisitioned the airfield and it was known as ''

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Rochford'' during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

as a satellite airfield. During World War II, it became a base for fighter squadrons comprising

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Gri ...

s and

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...

s as well as

Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company (Bristol) which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until ...

s. Many of the 50 pillboxes that were designed to protect the airport from

paratroop A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during Wor ...

landings still survive, as does the underground defence control room, which is near to Southend Flying Club. A further 20 or so pillboxes also remain in the surrounding countryside.

Canewdon Canewdon is a village and civil parish in the Rochford district of Essex, England. The village is located approximately northeast of the town of Rochford, while the parish extends for several miles on the southern side of the River Crouch. Ca ...

, north-east of the airport, was the location of one of the World War II

Chain Home Chain Home, or CH for short, was the codename for the ring of coastal Early Warning radar stations built by the Royal Air Force (RAF) before and during the Second World War to detect and track aircraft. Initially known as RDF, and given the of ...

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, Marine radar, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor v ...

stations. The high transmitter tower at Canewdon was relocated to the Marconi works at Great Baddow in the 1950s.

1993: Regional Airports Ltd

Barriers on road by Southend Airport (geograph 2074263)

In 1993, after the airport had been losing money for many years, Southend Borough Council sold the airport to Regional Airports Ltd (RAL), operator of Biggin Hill Airport. London Southend Airport Co Ltd was formed to operate the airport which was re-branded as "London Southend Airport" with the term "Municipal" dropping from the title. The previous losses were turned into small profits for majority of tenure by RAL. The largest aircraft ever to land at the Airport was in November 1998 when a

Lockheed L-1011 Tristar The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, also known as the L-1011 (pronounced "El-ten-eleven") and TriStar, is an American medium-to-long-range, wide-body trijet airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation. It was the third wide-body airliner to enter comm ...

of Irish airline

Aer Turas Aer Turas Teoranta (from the Irish meaning ''Air Journey'') was an Irish airline and later a freight operator based in Dublin, Ireland, from 1962 until May 2003. History Aer Turas started operations in 1962 as an air taxi service from Irela ...

arrived for scrapping at the airport. In 2001, a debate centred on the possible relocation of the

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

St Laurence and All Saints Church further away from the side of the main runway. The proposal was dropped after the planning application was rejected by Southend Council in 2003, and a compromise scheme was implemented resulting in the installation of new barriers across Eastwoodbury Lane and requiring slightly shorter licensed runway lengths once safety areas had been added. These changes allowed passenger flights to be restarted, although the runway length still largely curtailed the potential range and payloads for passenger flights, and scheduled airline utilisation was low, until the March 2012 runway extension opened. Flightline was an airline formed in 1989 headquartered at Southend, where they also had a maintenance/engineering base for their own and third party aircraft. They mainly operated

British Aerospace 146 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Manufacture by Avro International ...

aircraft on ad-hoc charters, and an Avro RJ100 regional jet with which they operated a regular service between Southend and

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

from 7 June 2006 to 1 December 2008 on behalf of

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

as a corporate shuttle. Flightline went into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

on 3 December 2008. In January 2008, Regional Airports Ltd put the airport up for sale.

Flybe Flybe (pronounced ), styled as flybe, is a British airline based at Birmingham Airport, England. History The airline traces its history back to Jersey European Airways, which was set up in 1979 following the merger of Intra Airways and Expre ...

operated a once weekly summer-only service to Jersey using

Dash 8 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...

aircraft, ending in 2011.

2008: Stobart Group

The airport was bought on 2 December 2008 by the

for £21 million, becoming part of the

Stobart Air Stobart Air, legally incorporated as ''Stobart Air Unlimited Company'', was an Irish regional airline headquartered in Dublin. It operated scheduled services under the brands Aer Lingus Regional, BA CityFlyer and KLM Cityhopper on behalf of the ...

division of the Stobart Group, which also operates Carlisle Airport. Following council consultation with the local population, a planning application to extend the usable runway length by to and upgrade navigational and lighting aids, was submitted to Southend Borough Council 13 October 2009. Planning permission was granted 20 January 2010. Initially subject to an Article 14 Direction, after due consideration by the Government this was withdrawn 19 March 2010, meaning it would not be subject to a Public Inquiry. A

Section 106 agreement The Town and Country Planning Act 1990c 8 is an act of the United Kingdom Parliament regulating the development of land in England and Wales. It is a central part of English land law in that it concerns town and country planning in the United Ki ...

was entered into between the airport and local councils. On 1 June 2010, Stobart Group took a £100 million loan from M & G Investments, partly in order to fund the airport construction. In July 2010, an application for a

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incomp ...

of the planning application was filed, which was dismissed on 2 February 2011. On 23 September 2010, the airport received the ''Airport Achievement Award 2010/11'' from the

European Regions Airline Association The European Regions Airline Association is a trade association of European regional airlines and associated businesses. It was founded as the European Regional Airlines Association in 1980, by a small number of what were then known as ''commuter ...

. A replacement

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airsp ...

tower became operational 21 March 2011, followed by the return of year-round daily passenger services 27 March 2011 when

Aer Arann Stobart Air, legally incorporated as ''Stobart Air Unlimited Company'', was an Irish regional airline headquartered in Dublin. It operated scheduled services under the brands Aer Lingus Regional, BA CityFlyer and KLM Cityhopper on behalf of t ...

commenced services to Galway and Waterford in Ireland.

announced a ten-year agreement with Stobart Group in June 2011, and in April 2012 commenced around 70 flights per week from Southend, using three

Airbus A319 The Airbus A319 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin-engine jet airliners manufactured by Airbus. The A319 carries 124 to 156 passengers and has a maximum range of . Final assem ...

aircraft based at the airport, flying to eight European destinations. Easyjet's operation at the airport has since increased to 16 destinations and in the summer of 2018 they will base a fourth aircraft at Southend, an

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the fam ...

. A new on-site

rail station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing su ...

opened on 18 July 2011 (the official opening by Minister for Transport

Theresa Villiers Theresa Anne Villiers (born 5 March 1968) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005. A member of the ...

MP was on 21 September 2011), and a new road opened on 1 September 2011, replacing Eastwoodbury Lane that lay in the path required for the runway extension.

2012–2019: London Olympics and expansion of passenger flights

Before the

2012 Summer Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, a new terminal was built by Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd during 2011 and opened 28 February 2012 (the official opening was by Justine Greening, Secretary of State for Transport, on 5 March 2012). The original terminal has been redeveloped for use by private jets, with

having invested half a million pounds turning it into an executive business lounge. The extended runway opened on 8 March 2012, with Category I ILS on both ends of the runway. In spring 2014,

announced that it had agreed a five-year franchise agreement with

which would see two Flybe-branded aircraft based at Southend operating six routes from summer 2014. On 18 January 2015, two routes were terminated with the operation reduced to one aircraft. On 7 April 2014, the extension to the passenger terminal was formally opened by

Patrick McLoughlin Patrick Allen McLoughlin, Baron McLoughlin, (born 30 November 1957) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he first became the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Derbyshire following the 1986 by-election. The constitue ...

, the

Secretary of State for Transport The Secretary of State for Transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Department for Transport. The incumbent is ...

. ATC Lasham, the major engineering company at the airport, entered administration in October 2015. The main

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

that it used dated back to Aviation Traders Engineering Limited (ATEL) – founded by the late Sir

Freddie Laker Sir Frederick Alfred Laker (6 August 1922 – 9 February 2006) was an English airline entrepreneur, best known for founding Laker Airways in 1966, which went bankrupt in 1982. Known as Freddie Laker, he was one of the first airline owners to ...

– and was later used by Heavylift Engineering. In December 2016, Flybe announced it would be adding new routes from summer 2017 to 12 European destinations, primarily aimed at the weekend break customers. The airline based two

Embraer 195 The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast narrow-body short- to medium-range twin-engine jet airliners designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. The E-Jet was designed as a complement to the preceding E ...

aircraft at the airport. In October 2017,

added high frequency domestic routes to the airport, with up to 18 flights per week to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, up to 16 flights per week to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

and up to 10 flights per week to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

. An additional ATR 72 was based at the airport to operate the Manchester flights, bringing the total number of Flybe aircraft based at Southend to four. In February 2018,

Air Malta Air Malta plc (stylized as airmalta) is the flag carrier airline of Malta, with its headquarters in Luqa and its hub at Malta International Airport. It operates services to destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. History ...

announced it would begin flights to

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also b ...

and

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, which began in May 2018 although the Cagliari and Catania flights ceased in January 2019. In June 2018,

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings famil ...

announced it would open a base at Southend, basing three aircraft there operating 55 flights per week to 13 destinations, which began in April 2019. In October 2018,

announced it would commence 5 flights per week to

Newquay Airport Cornwall Airport Newquay is the main commercial airport for Cornwall, United Kingdom, located at Mawgan in Pydar, northeast of the town of Newquay on Cornwall's north coast. Its runway was operated by RAF St Mawgan before 2008, and is now o ...

from April 2019, increasing to daily from May 2019. In May 2019,

Loganair Loganair is a Scottish regional airline based at Glasgow Airport near Paisley, Scotland. It is the largest regional airline in the UK by passenger numbers and fleet size. In addition to its main base at Glasgow, it has hubs at Aberdeen, Edinb ...

started to fly to

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

and

Stornoway Stornoway (; gd, Steòrnabhagh; sco, Stornowa) is the main town of the Western Isles and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it by far the largest town in the Outer Hebrides, as well ...

; in July 2019 to

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...

, and

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

flights moved from

Stansted London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acro ...

to Southend on 27 October 2019. On 31 October 2019 Ryanair announced four new routes to launch in Summer 2020 - Bergerac, Girona and Marseille were first announced before Rodez was announced as the route was moved from Stansted to Southend. On 14 November 2019 Loganair announced that the Stornoway to Glasgow to Southend service would be withdrawn from 3 January 2020.

COVID-19 pandemic and consolidation since 2020

On 22 January 2020, Norwegian airline

Widerøe Widerøes Flyveselskap AS, trading as Widerøe, is a Norwegian airline, and is the largest regional airline operating in the Nordic countries. The airline's fleet of 40 Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft, and 3 Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, serves over 40 ...

announced it would move its Kristiansand route from Stansted to Southend at the start of the Summer 2020 season, however due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

pandemic this had been postponed until 26 October 2020. On 20 February 2020, it was announced Loganair would suspend its Aberdeen service and on 23 March, similarly the Carlisle service. At the commencement of the COVID-19 UK lockdown,

Wizz Air Wizz Air, legally incorporated as Wizz Air Hungary Ltd. ( hu, Wizz Air Hungary Légiközlekedési Zrt.) is a Hungarian ultra-low-cost carrier with its head office in Budapest, Hungary. The airline serves many cities across Europe, as well as ...

's revised schedule consolidated the

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

route at

London Luton Airport London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, situated east of the town centre, and north of Central London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL), a company wholly owned by ...

from when it re-started, cutting the route from Southend. In June 2020, Wizz Air cut

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urba ...

as a destination from Southend as well, leaving it with one route to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...

which had been suspended as well since. On 17 August 2020,

easyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate air ...

announced it would close its base at Southend entirely due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the last scheduled flight occurring on 31 August 2020. On 6 August 2021,

also announced the closure of its base at Southend, effective 30 October 2021 leaving the airport with barely any scheduled services for the time being. On 17 December 2021,

announced that they would return to the airport in a limited capacity with routes to Málaga and Palma de Mallorca. In September 2022,

Amazon Air Amazon Air, operating under the callsign Prime Air, is a cargo airline operating exclusively to transport Amazon packages. In 2017, it changed its name from Amazon Prime Air to Amazon Air to differentiate themselves from their autonomous drone ...

announced it would terminate its cargo flights from Southend to Rome which was the airport's sole scheduled freight operation.

Airline and destinations

The following airlines operate regularly scheduled and charter flights to and from Southend:

Statistics

Ground transport

Rail

Since 2011, the airport has its own railway station near the terminal building,

Southend Airport railway station Southend Airport railway station is on the Shenfield to Southend Line in the East of England, serving London Southend Airport, the village of Sutton and northern parts of Southend-on-Sea. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street and ...

on the

Shenfield to Southend Line Shenfield is a commuter suburb of Brentwood, in the borough of Brentwood, Essex, England. In 2020, the suburb was estimated to have a population of 5,396. History The old village (now town), by the church and Green Dragon pub, lies along the ...

, which is served by

Abellio Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Abellio East Anglia Limited) is a train operating company in Great Britain owned as a joint venture by Abellio, the international arm of the state-owned Dutch national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen, and the J ...

connecting the airport to

Liverpool Street station Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the ...

in London up to eight times per hour during peak times and Southend Victoria railway station in the other direction respectively. The journey to London takes about 55 minutes. A later train has now been added to London every night, except Saturday night, and an earlier train to the airport from London every day, except Sunday morning.

Bus

The airport is served by buses operated by

Arriva Southend Arriva Southend is a division of Arriva Southern Counties, a subsidiary of transport group Arriva which operates bus services in and around the Southend-on-Sea, Rochford, Rayleigh areas of Essex. They operate most services east of Southend and ...

from the airport entrance to

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

(7, 8 and 9),

(7 and 8),

Ashingdon Ashingdon is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. It is located about north of Rochford and is southeast from the county town of Chelmsford. The village lies within Rochford District and the parliamentary constituency of Rayleigh. A ...

(7), Hawkwell (8),

Hockley Hockley is a large village and civil parish in Essex in the East of England located between Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea, or, more specifically, between Rayleigh and Rochford. It came to prominence during the coming of the railway in the 189 ...

(7 and 8),

Eastwood Eastwood may refer to: Places ;in Australia *Eastwood, New South Wales **Eastwood railway station ** Electoral district of Eastwood *Eastwood, South Australia ;in Canada * Eastwood, Ontario *Eastwood, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood ;in the P ...

(9) and Rayleigh (7, 8 and 9).

First Essex First Essex is a bus company operating services in the county of Essex. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. History First Essex arose from an amalgamation of Eastern National and Thamesway Buses. First Essex was originally part of the Eas ...

operates Essex Airlink X30 from the terminal to

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of Londo ...

and

Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acro ...

. Since 5 October 2019,

Ensignbus Ensignbus is a bus and coach operator and bus dealer based in Purfleet, Essex. History Ensignbus was formed in 1972 by Peter Newman, who remains involved today as chairman and his sons Ross and Steve as directors. Ensignbus commenced with ...

have operated the Jetlink X1, a night bus service running once in each direction from Southend Airport to

Grosvenor Gardens, London Grosvenor Gardens is the name given to two triangular parks in Belgravia, London, faced on their western and eastern sides by streets of the same name. Both roads run roughly north to south from Hobart Place and Grosvenor Place to Buckingham ...

via

Lakeside Shopping Centre Lakeside Shopping Centre, is a large out-of-town shopping centre located in West Thurrock, Essex just beyond the eastern boundary of Greater London. It was constructed on the site of a former chalk quarry. The first tenants moved into the compl ...

bus station,

Canning Town Canning Town is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London. The district is located to the north of the Royal Victoria Dock, and has been described as the "Child of the Victoria Docks" as the timing and nature of its urbanisation ...

and

Embankment Embankment may refer to: Geology and geography * A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea * Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railway ...

stations, however this bus service has since been withdrawn due to it being banned by the airport authorities.

Accidents and incidents

*On 11 February 1944,

Boeing B-17 The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

42-31694 of the

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(511th BS) crash-landed and burned out at Southend, after receiving battle damage on a raid on

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

. *On 11 May 1944, B17G 42-107147 of the USAAF (360BS) made an

emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

wheels-up landing with heavy

flak Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based ...

damage after a mission to

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is ...

. *On 12 July 1957, a

Lockheed Constellation The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first pressurized-cabin civil airliner series to go into widespread use. Its press ...

of TWA made an

emergency landing An emergency landing is a premature landing made by an aircraft in response to an emergency involving an imminent or ongoing threat to the safety and operation of the aircraft, or involving a sudden need for a passenger or crew on board to term ...

while routeing from

Heathrow Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...

, with one engine on fire. * On 28 July 1959, an East Anglian Flying Services Vickers 614 Viking 1 ( registered G-AHPH) was written off in a landing accident. On approach the aircraft's right-hand main gear indicator showed that the gear was unsafe. An

was made on the grass parallel to the runway. The right gear collapsed and the aircraft swung to the right, damaging it beyond repair. None of the 39 occupants were injured. *On 9 October 1960, a

Handley Page Hermes The Handley Page HP.81 Hermes was a civilian airliner designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Handley Page. The Hermes was developed during the 1940s in parallel with the closely related Handley Page Hastings military transp ...

of Falcon Airways (registration: G-ALDC) overran the runway on landing, ending up across the Shenfield to Southend railway line. The aircraft was written off but all 76 people on board survived. *On 3 May 1967, a

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. The Vi ...

Channel Airways Channel Airways was a private airline formed in the United Kingdom in 1946 as East Anglian Flying Services. The newly formed airline initially operated aerial joy rides with a single, three-seater aircraft from an airstrip on the Kent coast. Sc ...

(registration: G-AVJZ) was written off when a propeller was feathered on take-off. Two people on the ground died. *On 4 May 1968, a Vickers Viscount of

(registration: G-APPU) overran the runway having landed at too high a speed. The aircraft was written off. *On 3 June 1971, a

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper versi ...

of Moormanair (registration: PH-MOA) returned for an emergency landing with one engine partially failed, shortly after departure to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

carrying supporters of

Ajax Football Club The AJAX (acronym for the "Associated Judaean Athletic Clubs".) Football Club is an Australian rules football club sited in the inner suburb of St Kilda, Victoria. The squad competes in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA).''For t ...

. It overran on landing, colliding with an earth bank at the end of the runway and slightly injuring 2 of the 32 passengers on board. *On 4 October 1974, the

flight engineer A flight engineer (FE), also sometimes called an air engineer, is the member of an aircraft's flight crew who monitors and operates its complex aircraft systems. In the early era of aviation, the position was sometimes referred to as the "air m ...

of a DAT

Douglas DC-6 The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with t ...

(registration: OO-VGB) retracted the nose gear during take-off, even though the aircraft was not yet airborne, due to a communication error with the pilots. The aircraft slid along the runway and was damaged beyond repair. Of the 99 passengers on board the flight to Antwerp, one was severely injured and another four received minor injuries from evacuating the aircraft. The six crew members remained uninjured. *On 9 March 1986, a Vickers Viscount (registration: G-BLNB) made a wheels up landing, the landing gear warning horn not having functioned correctly. There were no injuries to the 3 occupants; after repair the aircraft was returned to service. *On 12 September 1987, a Beechcraft 200 (registration: G-WSJE) carrying newspapers crashed at night into Mac's Garage on the Eastwood Road. The pilot, 33-year-old Hugh Forrester Brown from nearby

, was thought to have attempted to crash land on the road after take-off, but was unable to and hit the empty garage; he was killed in the crash. *On 11 January 1988, a Vickers Viscount of

British Air Ferries British United Air Ferries (BUAF) was a wholly private, British independentindependent from government-owned corporations car and passenger ferry airline based in the United Kingdom during the 1960s. It specialised in cross- Channel ferry fli ...

(registration: G-APIM) was damaged beyond economic repair when it was in a ground collision with a Fairflight

Short 330 The Short 330 (also SD3-30) is a small turboprop transport aircraft produced by Short Brothers. It seats up to 30 people and was relatively inexpensive and had low maintenance costs at the time of its introduction in 1976. The 330 was based on ...

(registration: G-BHWT). The BAF Viscount was subsequently repaired and donated to

Brooklands Museum Brooklands Museum is a motoring and aviation museum occupying part of the former Brooklands motor-racing track in Weybridge, Surrey, England. Formally opened in 1991, the museum is operated by the independent Brooklands Museum Trust Ltd, a pri ...

for preservation. *On 6 March 1997, a

Piper PA-34 Seneca The Piper PA-34 Seneca is a twin-engined light aircraft, produced in the United States by Piper Aircraft. It has been in non-continuous production since 1971. The Seneca is primarily used for personal and business flying. Development The Senec ...

(registration: G-NJML) flying a charter taking aircraft spare parts to

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

, crashed to the north-east of the airport while attempting to return following the failure of the

gyroscope A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος ''gŷros'', "round" and σκοπέω ''skopéō'', "to look") is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rot ...

in the aircraft's

attitude indicator The attitude indicator (AI), formerly known as the gyro horizon or artificial horizon, is a flight instrument that informs the pilot of the aircraft orientation relative to Earth's horizon, and gives an immediate indication of the smallest o ...

. One of the two occupants died; the other was seriously injured. *On 19 July 2006, a

Cessna 150 The Cessna 150 is a two-seat tricycle gear general aviation airplane that was designed for flight training, touring and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 22-23. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977. In 19 ...

(registration: G-BABB) being flown by a student pilot on his second solo flight crashed into a public park from the airport. The student pilot was fatally injured.

References

Bibliography

*
''Airliner World'' online

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southend Airport Airports in the London region Airports in Essex Airports established in 1914 Transport in Rochford District Transport in Southend-on-Sea Buildings and structures in Southend-on-Sea