Ryanair opens London Southend Airport Base : Three aircraft, 14 routes & 1 million customers  

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (Tuesday 2 April) officially opened its new base at London Southend Airport with three aircraft, representing an investment of $300m.

It kicked off its summer 2019 schedule with 14 new routes, including exciting new connections to Alicante, Corfu, Faro and Milan Bergamo, which will deliver over 1million customers each year and support 750 “on-site” jobs at London Southend Airport.

Travellers can now book their holidays as far out as March 2020, enjoying even lower fares and Ryanair’s 2019 customer care improvements, including:

 Lowest Fares – find a cheaper fare within 3 hours, get paid the difference plus €/£ 5 MyRyanair credit

 Punctuality – deliver 90% target (excl. ATC) or 5% off following month’s air fares

 Customer Care Charter – EU261 claims processed in 10 days, new 24/7 support, connect in 2 mins

 Care Improvements – 48-hour free of charge grace period for changes to bookings

 Environmental Improvements – carbon offset programme, environmental partnerships and plastic free in 5 years

 New Ryanair Choice – €199 annual fee for free seats, fast-track & priority boarding for frequent guests

 Digital Improvements – new fare finder, sports tickets, bespoke travel guides & faster mobile

To celebrate the start of these new routes, Ryanair has released seats for sale from just £12.99, for travel until the end of May, which must be booked by midnight Friday (5 Apr), only on the Ryanair.com website.

London Southend Airport to become capital’s new gateway to Scotland

London Southend Airport is to become the capital’s new gateway to Scotland following a milestone agreement with Scotland’s airline, Loganair, to provide routes from the airport to three destinations, starting from spring 2019. The new routes from London’s favourite airport – as voted for by Which? readers – to Aberdeen, Glasgow and Stornoway represent a major new network between the capital and Scotland. Aberdeen and Glasgow will have three non-stop flights each way every weekday, together with a selection of weekend services, operated by Loganair’s Embraer 145 regional jet aircraft.

New, one-stop, same-plane services will also be introduced from Stornoway to London, providing direct services from the Highland & Island airports to London. There will also be convenient connections to flights to Barra, Benbecula, Islay, Kirkwall, Sumburgh and Tiree.

Fares will start from £49.99 one-way to Aberdeen, £39.99 to Glasgow; and £99.99 one-way to Stornoway. Flights to Glasgow and Stornoway will start on the 28th May. Aberdeen will get underway on the 12th May.

Loganair will be the only airline flying between Scotland and London whose fares all include a 20kg checked baggage allowance.

With a maximum of 49 customers aboard, rapid boarding and disembarkation are standard without needing to pay extra for the privilege. Free refreshments – tea, coffee, soft drinks and Scotland’s popular Tunnock’s Caramel Wafers – will be offered on all flights, on which customers will also be able to earn Clan Loganair reward points.  Flights are on sale now at www.loganair.co.uk and via major travel agency systems including Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport under Loganair’s LM flight code.

New route to Channel Islands on sale

Blue Islands, a Flybe franchise partner, has announced it will launch new daily flights to Guernsey from London Southend Airport, starting from 20 May 2019.  Tickets are on sale now at www.flybe.com. All ‘Just Fly’ seats are £29.99 one way, when booked by 30 Jan. From 31 Jan onwards fares will be from £29.99 one way.  The new service will be operated on 68-seat Blue Islands ATR 72-500, with flights taking just 75-minutes.

Guernsey is a great destination with lots to see and do whatever time of the year you choose to visit. Whether you are in the market for an early spring break, a summer beach holiday or an autumn visit when the crowds have gone but the sun may still be shining, the island won’t disappoint. It has dozens of stunning beaches, adventure sports such as coasteering and rock climbing and the north coast is proving increasingly popular for water sports. Guernsey is also renowned for its food scene. Island-grown produce, like vine tomatoes, mushrooms and peppers, and local seafood appear prominently on menus, so dining out is a real treat.

New route to Bulgaria takes off from London Southend Airport

New Flights to Sofia

A new, twice weekly easyJet route to Sofia from London Southend Airport is now in operation  (from16 December 2018).

Flights to the Bulgarian capital city – at 7,000 years, one of the oldest in Europe – are now operating every Sunday and Wednesday (running through until 20 March 2019). The new route is expected to carry over 11,000 passengers this winter.

The first flight to the Bulgarian capital signifies the opening of easyJet’s 21st route from London Southend and comes after an important summer for its expansion strategy, during which it celebrated the launch of the 1000th route across its network.

Bulgaria's laid-back capital is often overlooked by visitors heading straight to the Black Sea coast or the ski resorts, but they're missing something special. Since the fall of communism, Sofia has seen a whole host of smart new hotels, shopping centres, nightclubs and bars that will keep you going until the early hours, and you’ll still have change in your pocket. One of the newer members of the city break brigade, Sofia is a holiday destination that is definitely here to stay. 

Having played host to Romans, Byzantines, Bulgars, Turks and Communists over the years, Sofia has a rich cultural heritage. From grand Russian-style Neo-classical boulevards and Ottoman mosques to 4th century Byzantine basilicas and huge onion-domed cathedrals, Sofia is a culture lover’s paradise -there’s all you could wish for in terms of museums and galleries, with some of the most impressive historic collections in Eastern Europe.  

Tickets start from £24.68 per person (one way, including taxes and charges) and can be booked now at www.easyjet.com

New route to Chisinau from London Southend Airport

FLYONE is launching a new flight route from Chişinău to London Southend Airport.

The new route from the capital of Moldova will start on 19 July 2019, with flights operating twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Flights will be operated by an Airbus A319 aircraft. London Southend Airport represents the 12th route to be operated by the airline, which launched in 2016.

Pretty much all roads in Moldova lead to its wine-and-food loving capital, whose origins date back six centuries to 1420. Chişinău is a city of parks, of street festivals, and of sidewalk cafes where you can enjoy a drink and watch the world go by. A dozen superb wineries are within a 90-minute drive of Chişinău, and the super-central location puts the entire country within a day trip. Throw in a hip and happening nightlife, and Chisinau ticks off all the boxes for an ideal weekend break.

Tickets can be booked now at www.flyone.md, with prices starting from €69 one-way

Nov 15: New Adria Airways service to Paderborn

Passengers can now fly three times per week to historic Paderborn-Lippstadt in Germany. Founded by the Emperor Charlemagne, Paderborn dates back more than a thousand years and has an incredible 13th century Cathedral with stunning stained glass windows. Paderborn is also home to the world’s largest computer museum (Heinz Nixdorf Museums Forum).

The City is located in the heart of Germany and is a significant software hub; international giants such as Siemens, Wincor Nixdorf and Flextronics operate in Paderborn, which has also seen a wave of IT company startups since the 1980’s. It now boasts one of the highest concentrations of specialist IT companies in Germany and hundreds of software firms, making it an attractive destination for the fast-growing business and tech community in the South East.

Tickets to Paderborn are on sale now at www./adria.si/en

Nov 2018: Santa Flights to take off from London Southend Airport again: Tickets on sale now

Father Christmas is once again swapping his sleigh and reindeer for an easyJet plane on Saturday 1 December to raise cash for Essex charities and good causes whilst delivering an enchanting festive experience in the skies for local children. The hugely popular Santa Flights are back at London Southend Airport for 2018, and tickets are on sale now. Santa will be at the controls, with his cheeky band of elves as the cabin crew to look after and entertain everyone with carol singing and games, during the two 45-minute flights.

Before boarding the flight, the Christmas experience also includes a visit to Winter Wonderland for a delicious festive themed buffet, a chance to write a letter to Father Christmas and post it in a special Santa post-box and a fun-packed family show by leading Essex entertainer Nicky Trix including magic, illusions, comedy and ventriloquism. The Cliffs Pavilion team will also be on hand giving out Aladdin themed gift bags - watch out for the magic carpet?! All this plus a surprise gift (kindly donated by PMS International Toys in Basildon), snowmen and a Christmas choir.

Santa Flight tickets cost £75 per person (infants under 2 fly free if seated with an adult). There are two separate 45 min flights taking place on Saturday 1 December – check-in at 12.00 for a 15:00 departure (finishing at 16.00) or check-in at 14.00 arrival for a 17:00 departure finishing at 18.00).

For full information on how to apply for tickets for the Santa Flights and the all-important Terms & Conditions, please visit our website www.southendairport.com  

London Southend Airport would like to say a huge thank you all its sponsors who have made the 2018 Santa Flights possible – easyjet, PMS International, TRG, The Cliffs Pavilion, Arriva Buses and Rochford Rotary Club – plus the many airport staff who help organise the event.

Thur 26 July: easyJet has launched its first flight from London Southend Airport to Bordeaux in South West France.

The route is the first of four to launch this summer and will be supported by the arrival of a new aircraft – its 4th - at the Essex airport.

Operating three times a week, easyJet expects to carry more than 30,000 passengers on the new Bordeaux route operating on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays.

easyJet is also set to launch new routes from London Southend to summer holiday favourites Prague, Pula and Dubrovnik helping to ensure the airline will carry over one million annual passengers to and from the airport for the first time this year, with a 25% rise in passenger numbers.