Word of mouth about the easy, fast service, a wide range of leisure and city break destinations, and a Which? award for Best Airport in the UK have combined to give London Southend Airport its busiest ever summer.
Some 230,000 passengers travelled through the Essex terminal between 1st July and 31st August 2013 – a 29.9% increase on the 177,000 that used the airport in summer 2012, making it the busiest summer since formal records began in 1967.
The busiest day of the summer period was 4th August, which saw 4,100 travellers jetting off.
The favourite destination in this July to August period was Amsterdam, followed by the popular Spanish locations of Alicante and Barcelona – more than 400,000 easyJet passengers have been flown between London Southend and Spain since April 2012.
This summer takes the total passengers to have used London’s newest airport since the new terminal opened in March 2013 to 1.25 million.
David Lister, London Southend Airport Operations Director, said: “Our exclusive promises to passengers – that they should wait no more than four minutes to go through security and that, on arrival with hand baggage, they are on the rail station platform within 15 minutes of leaving the aircraft with up to eight trains per hour to the heart of London in just 53 minutes, is what is driving more and more passengers to choose us over other airports.
“Once they experience our unique offer they keep coming back – and tell their friends, family and colleagues. That is why we are extending the terminal to ensure that we continue to deliver these high standards of customer service as the airport grows. We are also working closely with all our partners to offer an even wider variety of destinations for business and leisure travellers, at a reasonable cost all year round.”
Over £100 million has been invested in London Southend Airport by owners Stobart Group since it was acquired in 2008. New facilities include a train station on the London Liverpool Street, an Air Traffic Control tower, terminal building, runway extension and radar. There is also a 4-star Holiday Inn within walking distance of the terminal. To support the airport’s rapid growth, work on a £10 million extension to the terminal is now underway.
