The Essex airport loved by residents that sometimes only has one …
Essex has plenty of incredible transport facilities. Love it or hate it, the M25 is a major road for access from Essex to other parts of the country; there is also plenty of places to visit using our train services and the miles of smaller roads which cover all corners of our region.
If you’re after an overseas trip, our county is also served by two incredible airports which provide flights to a number of international destinations. One of those, over in Southend, is loved by local residents but can sometimes have just one flight departing a day.
According to MyLondon[1], the airport had just one departing flight on July 15 – heading to Malaga in Spain. Sunday (July 16) was a little busier with five departing flights to Malaga, Jersey, Mallorca and Amsterdam. On Monday there are five scheduled departures.
The airport, which has appeared in the James Bond film Goldfinger, might be seen as having a lower profile than others such as Stansted, Heathrow or Gatwick – but locals seem to enjoy flying from London Southend Airport[2].
One passenger told EssexLive she had flown from Southend “millions of times”. Mila Iles, another waiting for a flight, said it’s only 10 minutes away from her home in Southend, making it a very convenient place to fly from.
Laura Jordan, from Leigh-on-Sea, seconded Mila’s comments, saying: “It’s right on my doorstep. I love Southend Airport as it’s so local, and the facilities are fantastic.”
Back in October 2022, Southend Airport responded to a series of tweets asking why there are so few flights from the airport. It tweeted: “There are a few general explanations around why securing new destinations is challenging, but one of the key reasons is that we don’t currently have any ‘based’ aircraft here at London Southend Airport.”
Based aircrafts have an easier job flying to certain destinations as they do not have to make extra stops along the way. These are aircrafts that are based in the airport overnight.
They also tweeted saying that they hoped to become much busier website writing: “We’ll get there eventually! You can’t hold off such a demand forever, but it’s a lengthy process with all manner of hurdles to overcome.”
References
- ^ MyLondon (www.essexlive.news)
- ^ locals seem to enjoy flying from London Southend Airport (www.essexlive.news)
- ^ Why an Essex town closer to Stansted Airport than London wanted an underground station (www.essexlive.news)