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. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

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 south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England, approximately from the centre of London. The airport straddles the boundaries between the city of

and the

Rochford District Rochford is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Essex, England. It is named after one of its main settlements, Rochford, where the council is based. The largest town in the district is Rayleigh, Essex, Rayleigh. Other places ...

. Southend was the UK's third-busiest airport during the 1960s, behind

Heathrow Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, before passenger numbers dropped off in the 1970s.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 also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

, published 16 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011 Following its purchase by Stobart Group in 2008, a development programmeLondon Southend Airport's new control tower operational

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, published 4 April 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011 provided a new terminal 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 a ...

, extended the

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

, and opened Southend Airport railway station on the Shenfield-Southend line, which provides a connection to

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

via a regular rail service between London Liverpool Street and Southend Victoria.

Overview

Description

The airport is located between

and

Rochford Rochford is a town and civil parish in the Rochford (district), Rochford District in Essex, England, north of Southend-on-Sea, from London and from Chelmsford. At the 2011 census, the Civil parishes in England, civil parish had a population ...

town and city centres, north of Southend, in the county of

, east of central London. It has a single 1,856m (6,089ft) long

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

runway on a south-west/north-east axis. The current passenger terminal, built in 2012, has the capacity to serve five to six million passengers per year. The former terminal is now operated by the London Southend Jet Centre, a

fixed-base operator A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down, and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction ...

who provide facilities for the handling of executive aircraft. A four-star

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn by IHG is a chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson (1913–2003), who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee. The chain was a division ...

hotel adjacent to the airport entrance, owned by London Southend Airport, opened on 1 October 2012, at that time having the only rooftop restaurant in

. 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 indepen ...

'' in 2013, 2014 and 2015. It won best London airport for six consecutive years between 2013-2019. In the years the airport did not rank number one it has typically scored well. The airport was put up for sale by then-current owner Esken in March 2023 following a review of the group's core businesses. In March 2024, the

Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group Inc. is an American multinational company with operations in private equity, alternative asset management and financial services. As of 2023, the company had $426 billion of assets under management. Carlyle specializes in ...

alongside Cyrrus Capital Partners took ownership of the airport providing up to £32m of new investment.

Operations

London Southend Airport mainly handles 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 ...

, cargo and business flights, alongside

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

flying and pilot training (both

fixed-wing aircraft A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using aerodynamic lift. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft (in which a rotor mounted on a spinning shaft generate ...

and

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

). The airport is run by London Southend Airport Co Ltd, which employs around 250 people. During the large 2012 airport expansion, there were over 500 more people working at the airport compared to the same time in 2011. Southend Airport has a Civil Aviation Authority (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). The airport's location means it 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 in-house by London Southend Aviation Services, while the London Southend Jet Centre handles aircraft using their services. Companies located within the airport boundary employ around 450 workers, with businesses including aircraft maintenance, flying clubs and the airport-owned hotel. 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 airlin ...

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 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, the airport saw an increase of nearly 400,000 passengers over the previous year's total, with just over 1.4 million passengers. The airport successfully reached over two million passengers in 2019, its best year to date. Since 2020 and the effect of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the airport declined however is in resurgence as of 2023.

History

Early years

In 1909, two men from

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...

tested their monoplanes in the same site of the airport. The airfield was established by the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. It was the largest flying ground in Essex, with the greatest number of units. In May 1915 the Royal Navy Air Service (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 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. 155� ...

airship raiders, including LZ38 on 31 May 1915. Around 1919, the station closed and reverted to farmland, which it remained as until 1933 when Southend Borough Council bought the land. The airport was officially opened as a municipal airport on 18 September 1935 by the Under-Secretary of State for Air, Sir

Philip Sassoon Sir Philip Albert Gustave David Sassoon, 3rd Baronet (4 December 1888 – 3 June 1939) was a British politician and aristocrat. He served as a staff officer during the First World War, from July 1914 to November 1918. Family Sassoon was a member ...

, who arrived in his de Havilland Leopard Moth. 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 and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

requisitioned the airfield and it was known as '' RAF Rochford'' during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...

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 by ...

s as well as

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

s. By 28 October 1940, RAF Rochford had been renamed RAF Southend, no longer being a satellite of Hornchurch, although they still had Fighter Control at the base. A day later 264 Squadron arrived for night fighter duties equipped with the Boulton Paul Defiant. Many of the 50 pillboxes that were designed to protect the airport from

paratroop A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infa ...

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, 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 off ...

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

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

Post-war

In the 1950s, three new runways were added, enabling commercial flights for passengers and cargo. Runway 6/24 (now runway 5/23) was extended to 1,645m in 1960, while the third runway was removed. During the 1960s, Southend became third busiest airport in the UK. In 1967, it served 692,686 passengers; the same year, it had its first fatal crash.

1970s decline

At the end of February 1972,

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. S ...

, which had its hub and headquarters at Southend, ceased operations. In the 1970s, the proximity of housing on nearby roads, as well as St Laurence Church on Eastwoodbury Lane less than 100m from the runway prevented expansion. The airport's decline accelerated as

jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by one or more jet engines. Whereas the engines in Propeller (aircraft), propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much ...

were unable to use the runway due to its short length. As flights were withdrawn, engineering and maintenance became a more important part of airport operations.

1993: Regional Airports Ltd

In 1993, after the airport had been losing money for many years, Southend Borough Council sold the lease to 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 (pronounced "El-ten-eleven") 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 commercial operations, after the Boeing 747 ...

of Irish airline Aer Turas 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 is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

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. Avro International Aerospace manufa ...

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

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

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 corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

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: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

on 3 December 2008. In January 2008, Regional Airports Ltd. put the airport up for sale. Flybe operated a once weekly summer-only service to

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

using Dash 8 aircraft, ending in 2011.

2008: Stobart Group

The lease on the airport was bought on 2 December 2008 by the Stobart Group for £21 million, becoming part of the Stobart Air 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 Parliament of the United Kingdom 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 Un ...

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 a government's executive, legislative, or administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. In a judicial review, a court may invalidate laws, acts, or governmental actions that are in ...

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. 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 air ...

tower became operational 21 March 2011, followed by the return of year-round daily passenger services 27 March 2011 when Aer Arann commenced services to Galway and Waterford in Ireland.

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 airlin ...

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 ass ...

aircraft based at the airport, flying to eight European destinations. Easyjet's operation at the airport increased to 16 destinations and in the summer of 2018 they based 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, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...

. A new on-site

rail station A train station, railroad station, or railway station 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 such ...

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

Theresa Villiers Dame Theresa Anne Villiers (born 5 March 1968) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Chipping Barnet (UK Parliament constituency), Chipping Barnet from 2005 United Kingdom ...

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, 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 was redeveloped for use by private jets, with Stobart Air having invested half a million pounds turning it into an executive business lounge. The extended runway opened on 8 March 2012. Because planes can land in either direction, it is designated as runway 5 for planes landing from the south-west and as runway 23 for those arriving from the north-east. Both approaches have Category I Instrument Landing Systems installed. In 2019, a new Performance Based Navigation system was proposed, as an alternative to using the Instrument Landing Systems. In spring 2014, Stobart Air announced that it had agreed a five-year

franchise agreement A franchise agreement is a legal, binding contract between a franchisor and franchisee. In the United States franchise agreements are enforced at the State level. Prior to a franchisee signing a contract, the US Federal Trade Commission regulates i ...

with Flybe 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 constit ...

, the

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

. 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 – 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 aircraft at the airport. In October 2017, Flybe added high frequency short-haul routes to the airport, with up to 18 flights per week to

, up to 16 flights per week to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and up to 10 flights per week to

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. 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, stylized as airmalta, was a Maltese airline headquartered in Luqa and based at Malta International Airport. It operated services as the country's flag carrier to destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Air Malta ...

announced it would begin flights to

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

and

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

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

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...

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, Flybe announced it would commence five flights per week to Newquay Airport from April 2019, increasing to daily from May 2019. In May 2019,

Loganair Loganair is a Scottish regional airline headquartered at Glasgow Airport in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The airline primarily operates domestic flights within the United Kingdom. It is the largest regional airline in Scotland by passenger ...

started to fly to

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

and

Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...

; in July 2019 to

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

, and

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

flights moved from Stansted 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.

2020–2021: COVID-19 pandemic and consolidation

On 22 January 2020, Norwegian airline Widerøe announced it would move its Kristiansand route from Stansted to Southend at the start of the Summer 2020 season, however due to the

this was initially postponed until 26 October 2020 before being cancelled completely when the airline chose not to return to the airport and moved to

in March 2021. 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 {{Infobox airline , airline = Wizz Air Holdings Plc. , IATA = , ICAO = , callsign = , aoc = , hubs = , focus_cities = , frequent_flyer = {{ubl, class=nowrap , Wizz All You Can Fly , Wizz Discount Club , Wizz Privilege Pass , ...

's revised schedule consolidated the

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...

route at

Luton Airport London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, England, situated east of the town centre, and is the fourth-busiest airport serving London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Limited, a company wholly owned by ...

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

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

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

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

which had also since been suspended. On 17 August 2020,

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.

2021–present: Post-COVID-19 resumption

On 17 December 2021,

signed a multi-year deal with the airport and announced that they would initially return in a limited capacity with routes to

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

and

Palma de Mallorca Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...

. In 2022 it was announced that easyJet would add flights to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and Faro for the Summer 2023 season. Further routes to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

and

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

were announced in 2023. In May 2022, Air Horizont announced it would base two of its

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

aircraft at the airport for VIP charter flights. In September 2022,

ASL Airlines Ireland ASL Airlines Ireland (ASLI), formerly Air Contractors, is a cargo airline with an extensive operations network. It operates scheduled freight services throughout Europe on behalf of major parcel integrators such as Amazon Air, Amazon, FedEx Fee ...

, operating for

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

, announced it would terminate its cargo flights from Southend to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

which was the airport's sole scheduled freight operation. On 21 June 2023, the airport owner, Esken announced that the airport had been put up for sale following a strategic review of the group's businesses. In July 2023,

BH Air BH Air Ltd. () is a Bulgarian registered airline based in Sofia. Part owned by Balkan Holidays Services based in Sofia, not Balkan Holidays Ltd, the Tour Operator based in London. BH Air provides charter flights to tour operators in the UK, Scand ...

announced a route to

Burgas Burgas (, ), sometimes transliterated as Bourgas, is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, fourth-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, an ...

for the Summer 2024 season. In August 2023, 2Excel Aviation, operating for Oil Spill Response, announced it would use the airport as a base for its two

Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavier Boeing 707, 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter ...

aircraft to respond to international oil incidents. On 6 March 2024, it was announced that the

, alongside Cyrrus Capital Partners, would take an 82.5% stake in the airport by converting debt to equity. The deal settled Esken's debt to Carlyle whilst providing a £5m bridge loan and a commitment of £32m of new funding to secure the airport's future. On 16 May 2024,

announced that the airline will return to base at Southend Airport with six new destinations immediately announced, with those destinations being served by three

Airbus A320neo The Airbus A320neo family is an incremental development of the A320 family of narrow-body airliners produced by Airbus. The A320neo family (''neo'' being Greek for "new", as well as an acronym for "new engine option") is based on the Airbus A3 ...

s. On 23 September 2024,

announced it would renew its

route for the Summer 2025 season, however it was announced on 24 April 2025 that it stopped all flights to all UK airports. Eastern Airways also announced new routes beginning in April 2025.

Facilities

Terminal

The current terminal was built in 2012 as a part of the Stobart Group's development upon taking over the airport. It has twelve check-ins, two floors, ten departure gates and two baggage claims. There are several amenities such as shops and places to eat and drink.

London Southend Jet Centre

The London Southend Jet Centre is a

established in 2017 and situated at the airport with their own terminal, parking stands and hangar. The Jet Centre specialises in VIP facilities and handling for business and private aviation, alongside providing services to aircraft that have based themselves with the Jet Centre. The Jet Centre has also acted as the registered office address of Avooma Airlines since October 2024.

Runway

There were originally three runways in the 1950s with one removed in the 1960s. A second one was also removed in the 1990s, leaving one runway remaining and used today, 23/05. In 2012, there was an additional 300m runway extension to bring its present length to 1,856m (6,089ft) alongside equipping both ends of the runway with category I instrument landing system. In 2019, the runway was resurfaced to grooved asphalt for better durability and performance so that heavier aircraft, such as the

Boeing 737-800 The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a twinjet, twin-engine narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third-generation derivative of the Boeing 737, it ha ...

and

Airbus A321 The Airbus A321 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short to medium range, Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body, commercial passenger Twinjet, twin engine jet airliners; it carries 185 to 236 passengers. It has a stretched fuselage which was ...

, can commercially operate at the airport. Some of the largest aircraft that have operated at the airport, for maintenance or scrapping, include the

Airbus A300 The Airbus A300 is Airbus' first production aircraft and the world's first Twinjet, twin-engine, double-aisle Wide-body aircraft, (wide-body) airliner. It was developed by ''Airbus Industrie GIE'', now merged into Airbus SE, and manufactured f ...

Lockheed L-1011 TriStar The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar (pronounced "El-ten-eleven") 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 commercial operations, after the Boeing 747 ...

and

Ilyushin Il-76 The Ilyushin Il-76 (; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau as a commercial freighter in 1967, to replace the Antonov An-1 ...

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at London Southend Airport:

Statistics

Ground transport

Rail

The airport has its own railway station near the terminal building,

Southend Airport 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 south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

on the Shenfield-Southend line, which opened in 2011. It is served by

Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Transport UK East Anglia Limited) is a British train operating company owned as a joint venture by Transport UK Group and Mitsui & Co. It operates the East Anglia franchise, providing the commuter and inter-city se ...

connecting the airport to Liverpool Street in London usually every 20 minutes, with additional services during peak times, and to Southened Victoria in the other direction. The journey to London takes about 55 minutes. An additional later train operates to London every night, except Saturday night, with an early morning train to the airport from London every day, except Sunday morning.

Bus

The airport is served by buses operated by Arriva Southend from the airport entrance to

Southend 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 south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

(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 of Chelmsford. The village lies within Rochford District and the parliamentary constituency of Rayleigh. Ashingdon has a Pari ...

(7), Hawkwell (8), Hockley (7 and 8), Eastwood (9) and

Rayleigh Rayleigh may refer to: Science *Rayleigh scattering *Rayleigh–Jeans law *Rayleigh waves *Rayleigh (unit), a unit of photon flux named after the 4th Baron Rayleigh *Rayl, rayl or Rayleigh, two units of specific acoustic impedance and characte ...

(7, 8 and 9). First Essex 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 Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

and

London Stansted Airport Stansted Airport is an international airport serving London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Uttlesford, Essex, northeast of Central London. As London's Airports of London, third-bu ...

. On 8 June 2019,

Ensignbus Ensign Bus Company Limited, trading as Ensignbus, is a bus and coach operator and bus dealer based in Purfleet, Essex. As of March 2023, it is a part of FirstGroup. History Ensignbus was formed in 1972 by Peter Newman, who remains involved ...

started operating the Jetlink X1, a night bus service running once in each direction from Southend Airport to Grosvenor Gardens, London via

Lakeside Shopping Centre Lakeside Shopping Centre (commonly referred to as Lakeside) is a large Out-of-town shopping centres in the United Kingdom, out-of-town shopping mall, shopping centre located in West Thurrock, Essex just beyond the eastern boundary of Greater Lon ...

bus station,

Canning Town Canning Town is a town in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England, north of the Royal Victoria Dock. Its urbanisation was largely due to the creation of the dock. The area was part of the ancient parish and County Borough of West Ham, ...

and Embankment stations, however this bus service was later withdrawn due to it being banned by the airport authorities. It recommenced on 5 October 2019 but was withdrawn again in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Accidents and incidents

*On 11 February 1944, a

Boeing B-17 The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...

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 during a raid on

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. *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 (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-bas ...

damage after a mission to

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

. *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 civil airliner family to enter widespread use equipped with a pressurized cab ...

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 ...

with one engine on fire while routing from

. * On 28 July 1959, an East Anglian Flying Services Vickers 614 Viking 1 ( registered G-AHPH) was written off in a landing accident at the airport. On

approach Approach may refer to: Aviation *Visual approach *Instrument approach * Final approach Music * ''Approach'' (album), by Von Hertzen Brothers * ''The Approach'', an album by I:Scintilla Other uses *Approach Beach, a gazetted beach in Ting Kau, H ...

, the aircraft's right-hand main

gear A gear or gearwheel is a rotating machine part typically used to transmit rotational motion and/or torque by means of a series of teeth that engage with compatible teeth of another gear or other part. The teeth can be integral saliences or ...

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 of Falcon Airways (registration: G-ALDC) overran the runway on landing, ending up across the Shenfield-Southend 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 retired 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. T ...

(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 the 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 ...

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

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The aircraft was carrying supporters of Ajax Football Club. It overran the runway 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 a member of an aircraft's flight crew who is responsible for monitoring and operating its complex aircraft systems. In the early era of aviation, the position was sometimes referr ...

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, Douglas reworked it after the war to compete ...

(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 in

. The pilot, 33-year-old Hugh Forrester Brown from nearby Canewdon, was thought to have attempted to crash land on the road after take-off, but he 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 (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 Course in Weybridge, Surrey, England. Formally opened in 1991, the museum is operated by the independent Brooklands Museum Trust Ltd, a private l ...

for preservation. *On 6 March 1997, a Piper PA-34 Seneca (registration: G-NJML) flying a charter taking aircraft spare parts to

Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

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 (geometry), orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in ...

in the aircraft's

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

. 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
{{Transport in London Airports in the London region Airports in Essex Airports established in 1914 Transport in Rochford District

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

Rochford The Carlyle Group 1914 establishments in England