Make a point of visiting us weekly! Tell a friend about us.
London Southend Airport
5. Experiencing the Airport
5. Experiencing the Airport
Experiencing the Airport
(July 2013)
The Good and Bad News about using the local airport
(July 2013)
The Good and Bad News about using the local airport
In our recent report, “The New Terminal Extension moves on” we commented that we would be soon using the airport and would tell you how it compares with Gatwick. Well, the short answer is that there is no comparison. At Gatwick you walk miles to get to Border Control, at Southend you walk a couple of hundred yards at the most. At Gatwick (on our last trip there – see “Fifty Reasons for Using Southend”) it took us an over an hour to get from the plane to car pick-up point, at Southend from plane to car it took just fifteen minutes! Impressive!
But not all our readers may have used Southend airport yet (we hadn’t for forty years, the lat time being when we had flown on our honeymoon out of Southend – you may guess what this latest trip was about therefore!) and so perhaps you (and the airport) may appreciate an insight into using this facility on our doorstep. Let’s have a quick look at easyjet first, and then how the airport handles you. (If you only want to see our ‘gripes’ scroll to the end of the article!)
But not all our readers may have used Southend airport yet (we hadn’t for forty years, the lat time being when we had flown on our honeymoon out of Southend – you may guess what this latest trip was about therefore!) and so perhaps you (and the airport) may appreciate an insight into using this facility on our doorstep. Let’s have a quick look at easyjet first, and then how the airport handles you. (If you only want to see our ‘gripes’ scroll to the end of the article!)
Just in case you have never flown with easyjet yet, and should you be someone who has flown long haul flights abroad, flying easyjet is like using Aldi instead of Waitrose – no frills flying! You’ll even pay for the coffee they offer you on the flight and you’ll certainly pay for any luggage other than ONE piece of hand baggage, so if you are someone who buys a bag full of duty-free at the other end, make sure it will go into your existing ONE bag otherwise you’ll be charged. But that is how they manage budget flights so don’t complain. They pack people in and you’ll need to pay more to get extra legroom but on a short haul flight you can probably cope without that. Having flown four flights with them this year they always seem to land incredibly fast but then without a bump and slow up incredibly quickly with a great sense of stability. On our latest flight we came in over Leigh and I realised, looking at all the houses close below us, why residents are not excited about increasing numbers of flights – but then they chose to live there knowing the airport was here. How we managed to land twenty five minutes earlier on a short haul flight, than the scheduled time, I don’t know, but it was good stuff!
And so to the airport. On the outgoing flight, there were two flights on the board for virtually the same time but the departure lounge did not feel overcrowded. It is obviously new, has an area for ladies to spend exorbitant amounts on perfume, a Smiths and a cafe area. Unworldly passengers stood unnecessarily in a queue before the Gate for a quarter of an hour before being let through to the plane. Why queue? You have allocated seats on the plane so rest your feet and wait until they are genuinely about to open the Gate! The walk to the plane was about a hundred and fifty yards, partly through a scaffold tunnel but when the work is finished you should have an open view I presume.
The fact that we were stuck in the tunnel for five minutes I suspect was caused by the unfortunate arrival of a large plane passing on the apron to go for servicing. Minor glitches along the way. The busier the airport gets, presumably the longer you might find it takes to get to a plane? On the return flight the plane touched down and turned straight across in front of the terminal with no long trip around the airfield as can so often happen at some airports. No fuss disembarking (easyjet use back and front door loading and unloading for speed, using steps – not clever if it is pouring with rain but that didn’t happen on this trip.
So do I sound like a marketing representative for the airport? Well, let’s remedy that. I have some gripes which I will mention with not a lot of hope of change – but they need saying.
Gripe No.1 – when will some airport designer realise that the lettering on departure and arrival screens is far too small. Most people over the age of sixty have to go and stand immediately below the screens to be able to decipher the names and times. I even saw a young man squinting at the screens from the other side of some seating. With the total cost of a new airport being what it is, the cost of installing screens at least half as big again as they are, would be peanuts!
Gripe No.2 – when will airport authorities wake up to the fact that an incredible number of more elderly (and not so elderly) are having new hips or new knees and such operations leave them with a piece of metal in their bodies, and so an increasing number of people are going to set off the alarm on the traditional scanner requiring the person to be stigmatised by being pulled out, searched and scanned. I have had this happen to me six times in the last six months! Having experienced a full body scanner at Atlanta airport in the USA, the ease of use and the reduction in airport security personnel must make this an essential piece of kit for any self-respecting modern airport – surely! OK, put just one in for those of us who KNOW we’ll set the traditional scanner off!
Gripe No.3 – this is only a little one but in the modern age it is probably something that regular travellers now expect. I watched a young man plaintively asking staff for help. He had nowhere to plug in and recharge his mobile or plug his laptop in to. And is there WiFi? It is becoming standard in big airports around the world and some smaller ones.... so?
Gripe No.4 – and this is my biggest one and is one I have commented on before and will continue to gripe about because other people have griped to me about it. FIVE MINUTES FREE PARKING FOR PICKUPS????? With the greatest respect, that is insulting, insensitive and leaves customers leaving the airport with a sour taste in their mouths. The person picking us up – we rang them the moment we left the plane and said, be there in fifteen minutes – and they were – was in a state of anxiety – “Quick, we must get out before they charge me £2.50” And that was without me saying a word. Five minutes gives no leeway for minor delays and simply causes stress and makes people think the airport is a money-grabbing cheapskate. Fifteen minutes would avoid all that! One is left wondering if the airport is in league with local taxi firms and is discouraging use of the airport by local people, many of whom will simply call on a family member or friend to pick them up. Airport, you are really letting yourself down with this one! And there are many of us who feel the same. It’s easy to remedy!
So there we are! We have an excellent facility on our doorstep which, for the time being at least, takes so much of the hassle out of travelling aboard, making it nearly as easy as getting on and off a bus. Make the most of it folks and who knows, they might even spend a few more pounds to pick up on the things they’ve missed that we’ve mentioned. Happy travelling.
Top of Page
So do I sound like a marketing representative for the airport? Well, let’s remedy that. I have some gripes which I will mention with not a lot of hope of change – but they need saying.
Gripe No.1 – when will some airport designer realise that the lettering on departure and arrival screens is far too small. Most people over the age of sixty have to go and stand immediately below the screens to be able to decipher the names and times. I even saw a young man squinting at the screens from the other side of some seating. With the total cost of a new airport being what it is, the cost of installing screens at least half as big again as they are, would be peanuts!
Gripe No.2 – when will airport authorities wake up to the fact that an incredible number of more elderly (and not so elderly) are having new hips or new knees and such operations leave them with a piece of metal in their bodies, and so an increasing number of people are going to set off the alarm on the traditional scanner requiring the person to be stigmatised by being pulled out, searched and scanned. I have had this happen to me six times in the last six months! Having experienced a full body scanner at Atlanta airport in the USA, the ease of use and the reduction in airport security personnel must make this an essential piece of kit for any self-
Gripe No.3 – this is only a little one but in the modern age it is probably something that regular travellers now expect. I watched a young man plaintively asking staff for help. He had nowhere to plug in and recharge his mobile or plug his laptop in to. And is there WiFi? It is becoming standard in big airports around the world and some smaller ones.... so?
Gripe No.4 – and this is my biggest one and is one I have commented on before and will continue to gripe about because other people have griped to me about it. FIVE MINUTES FREE PARKING FOR PICKUPS????? With the greatest respect, that is insulting, insensitive and leaves customers leaving the airport with a sour taste in their mouths. The person picking us up – we rang them the moment we left the plane and said, be there in fifteen minutes – and they were – was in a state of anxiety – “Quick, we must get out before they charge me £2.50” And that was without me saying a word. Five minutes gives no leeway for minor delays and simply causes stress and makes people think the airport is a money-
So there we are! We have an excellent facility on our doorstep which, for the time being at least, takes so much of the hassle out of travelling aboard, making it nearly as easy as getting on and off a bus. Make the most of it folks and who knows, they might even spend a few more pounds to pick up on the things they’ve missed that we’ve mentioned. Happy travelling.
Top of Page