The airport is located betweenSouthend-on-Sea andRochford town and city centres, 1.5 NM (2.8 km; 1.7 mi) north of Southend,[1] in the county ofEssex, 36 mi (58 km) east of central London. It has a single 1,856m (6,089ft) longasphalt runway on a south-west/north-east axis.[13]
The current passenger terminal, built in 2012, has the capacity to serve five to six million passengers per year.[14] The former terminal is operated as of 2025[update] by the London Southend Jet Centre, afixed-base operator which provides facilities for the handling of executive aircraft.[15] A four-starHoliday Inn hotel adjacent to the airport entrance, owned by London Southend Airport, opened on 1 October 2012, at that time having the only rooftop restaurant inEssex.[16]
London Southend was voted the best airport in Britain for three consecutive years by consumer groupWhich? in 2013,[17] 2014[18] and 2015.[19] It won best London airport for six consecutive years between 2013-2019.[20] 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 ownerEsken in March 2023 following a review of the group's core businesses.[21][22] In March 2024, theCarlyle Group alongside Cyrrus Capital Partners took ownership of the airport providing up to £32m of new investment.[23]
Aerial view looking north-east, prior to the construction of the runway extension
London Southend Airport mainly handles scheduled passenger,charter, cargo andbusiness flights, alongsidegeneral aviation flying and pilot training (bothfixed-wing aircraft andhelicopter). The airport is run by London Southend Airport Co Ltd, which employs around 250 people.[24] During the large 2012 airport expansion, there were over 500 more people working at the airport compared to the same time in 2011.[25]
Southend Airport has aCivil 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).[26]
The airport's location means it has an excellent weather record, and is used by airlines as adiversion alternative when adverse weather or incidents cause other London airports to be closed.[27]
Airline ground handling is provided in-house by London Southend Aviation Services,[28] while the London Southend Jet Centre handles aircraft using their services.[15]
Companies located within the airport boundary employ around 450 workers, with businesses including aircraft maintenance, flying clubs and the airport-owned hotel.[29] PreviouslyBritish World Airlines had its head office at Viscount House at London Southend Airport.[30]
easyJet began operating services by opening a base at Southend in April 2012[31][32] and Irish carrierAer Lingus Regional began regular flights to Dublin in May,[33] resulting in a rapid increase in airport passenger numbers during 2012,[2] with 721,661 using the airport in that year,[34] 969,912 in 2013[2] and 1,102,358 in 2014.[2] 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.[2] In 2011, the airport operator planned to reach passenger numbers of two million per year by 2020.[5][8] 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.[35] The airport successfully reached over two million passengers in 2019, its best year to date.[36] Since 2020 and the effect of theCOVID-19 pandemic, the airport declined however is in resurgence as of 2023.
The airfield was established by theRoyal Flying Corps during theFirst World War. It was the largest flying ground in Essex, with the greatest number of units. In May 1915, theRoyal 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 againstZeppelin 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.[37][38]
In 1939, theAir Ministry requisitioned the airfield and it was known asRAF Rochford during theSecond World War as a satellite airfield. It became a base for fighter squadrons comprisingSupermarine Spitfire andHawker Hurricane as well asBristol Blenheim aircraft.[40] 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 theBoulton Paul Defiant.[41] Many of the 50pillboxes that were designed to protect the airport fromparatrooper 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, 2 miles (3.2 km) north-east of the airport, was the location of one of the Second World WarChain Homeradar stations. The 360 ft-high (110 m) transmitter tower at Canewdon was relocated to theMarconi works atGreat Baddow in the 1950s.[42]
In the 1950s, three new runways were added, enabling commercial flights for passengers and cargo.[43] Runway 6/24 (now runway 5/23) was extended to 1,645 m (5,397 ft) in 1960, while the third runway was removed.
During the 1960s, Southend became third busiest airport in the UK.[4] In 1967, it served 692,686 passengers; the same year, it had its first fatal crash.[44]
At the end of February 1972,Channel Airways, which had its hub and headquarters at Southend, ceased operations.
In the 1970s, the proximity of housing on nearby roads, as well asSt Laurence Church on Eastwoodbury Lane less than 100 m (330 ft) from the runway prevented expansion. The airport's decline accelerated asjet aircraft 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.
Temporary closing of barriers across Eastwoodbury Lane was required for large aircraft movements until the road was diverted to enable the construction of the runway extension in August 2012
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 ofBiggin 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.[citation needed]
In 2001, a debate centred on the possible relocation of theGrade I listedSt 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,[45] 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.[46] 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.[47]
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 operatedBritish Aerospace 146 aircraft on ad-hoc charters, and anAvro RJ100 regional jet with which they operated a regular service between Southend andCologne from 7 June 2006 to 1 December 2008 on behalf ofFord Motor Company as a corporate shuttle.[48] Flightline went intoadministration on 3 December 2008.[49]
In January 2008, Regional Airports Ltd. put the airport up for sale.[50]
Flybe operated a once weekly summer-only service toJersey usingDash 8 aircraft, ending in 2011.
Pre-extension terminal building seen from railway station, illustrating proximity.Interior of terminal building, seen from café by arrivals, and showing check-in area and escalator to departures.
The lease on the airport was bought on 2 December 2008 by theStobart Group for£21 million, becoming part of theStobart Air division of the Stobart Group, which also operatesCarlisle Airport.[51]
Following council consultation with the local population, a planning application to extend the usable runway length by 300 m (980 ft) to 1,799 m (5,902 ft) and upgrade navigational and lighting aids, was submitted toSouthend Borough Council 13 October 2009. Planning permission was granted 20 January 2010.Initially subject to anArticle 14 Direction, after due consideration by the Government this was withdrawn 19 March 2010, meaning it would not be subject to a Public Inquiry.[52] ASection 106 agreement 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.[53] In July 2010, an application for ajudicial review of the planning application was filed,[54] which was dismissed on 2 February 2011.[55] On 23 September 2010, the airport received theAirport Achievement Award 2010/11 from theEuropean Regions Airline Association.[56]
A replacementair traffic control tower became operational 21 March 2011, followed by the return of year-round daily passenger services 27 March 2011, whenAer Arann commenced services to Galway and Waterford in Ireland.[57][58]
EasyJet announced a ten-year agreement with Stobart Group in June 2011, and in April 2012 commenced around 70 flights per week from Southend, using threeAirbus A319 aircraft based at the airport,[59][60] 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, anAirbus A320.[61]
A new on-siterail station opened on 18 July 2011.[11] The official opening by Minister for TransportTheresa Villiers MP was on 21 September 2011,[62] and a new road opened on 1 September 2011, replacing Eastwoodbury Lane that lay in the path required for the runway extension.[63]
2012–2019: London Olympics and expansion of passenger flights
Before the2012 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).[64] The original terminal was redeveloped for use by private jets, with Stobart Air having invested £500million turning it into an executive business lounge.[65]
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 Iinstrument landing systems (ILS) installed. In 2019, a newperformance-based navigation system was proposed, as an alternative to using ILS.[66]
In spring 2014,Stobart Air announced that it had agreed a five-yearfranchise agreement withFlybe which would see two Flybe-branded aircraft based at Southend operating six routes from summer 2014.[67][68] 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 byPatrick McLoughlin, theSecretary of State for Transport.[69]
ATC Lasham, the major engineering company at the airport, entered administration in October 2015.[70] The mainhangar that it used dated back toAviation Traders Engineering Limited (ATEL) – founded by the late SirFreddie 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.[71] The airline based twoEmbraer 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 toManchester, up to 16 flights per week toDublin and up to 10 flights per week toGlasgow. 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.[72]
In February 2018,Air Malta announced it would begin flights toCagliari,Catania andMalta,[73] which began in May 2018 although the Cagliari and Catania flights ceased in January 2019.[74]In June 2018,Ryanair announced it would open a base at Southend, basing three aircraft there operating 55 flights per week to 13 destinations,[75] which began in April 2019.In October 2018,Flybe announced it would commence five flights per week toNewquay Airport from April 2019, increasing to daily from May 2019.[76]
In May 2019,Loganair started to fly toAberdeen,Glasgow andStornoway;[77] in July 2019 toCarlisle, andDerry flights moved fromStansted to Southend on 27 October 2019.[78]On 31 October 2019, Ryanair announced four new routes to launch in Summer 2020 - Bergerac, Girona and Marseille were first announced,[79] before Rodez was added as the route was moved from Stansted to Southend.[80]In November 2019, Loganair announced that the Stornoway to Glasgow to Southend service would be withdrawn from 3 January 2020.[81][82]
In January 2020, Norwegian airlineWiderøe announced it would move its Kristiansand route from Stansted to Southend at the start of the summer 2020 season,[83] however due to theCOVID-19 pandemic this was initially postponed until 26 October 2020 before being cancelled completely when the airline chose not to return to the airport and moved toHeathrow in March 2021.[citation needed]
In February 2020, it was announced Loganair would suspend its Aberdeen service,[84] and in March, similarly the Carlisle service.[85]
At the commencement of the COVID-19 UK lockdown,Wizz Air's revised schedule consolidated theSibiu route atLuton Airport from when it re-started, cutting the route from Southend. In June 2020, Wizz Air cutVilnius as a destination from Southend as well,[86] leaving it with one route toBucharest which had also since been suspended.
In August 2020, easyJet announced it would close its base at Southend entirely due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the last scheduled flight occurring on 31 August 2020.[87] In August 2021,Ryanair also announced the closure of its base at Southend, effective 30 October 2021[88]
On 17 December 2021, easyJet signed a multi-year deal with the airport and announced that they would initially return in a limited capacity with routes toMálaga andPalma de Mallorca.[89] In 2022, easyJet announced that it would add flights toAmsterdam andFaro for the Summer 2023 season.[90] Further routes toParis,Geneva,Grenoble andAlicante were announced in 2023.[91]
In May 2022,Air Horizont announced it would base two of itsBoeing 737 aircraft at the airport for VIP charter flights.[92] In September 2022,ASL Airlines Ireland, operating forAmazon, announced it would terminate its cargo flights from Southend toRome which was the airport's sole scheduled freight operation.[93]
In 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.[94] In July 2023,BH Air announced a route toBurgas for the Summer 2024 season.[95] In August 2023, 2Excel Aviation, operating for Oil Spill Response, announced it would use the airport as a base for its twoBoeing 727 aircraft to respond to international oil incidents.[96]
In March 2024, it was announced that theCarlyle Group, alongside Cyrrus Capital Partners, would take an 82.5% stake in the airport by converting debt to equity.[97][98] The deal settled Esken's debt to Carlyle whilst providing a £5million bridge loan and a commitment of £32million of new funding to secure the airport's future.[23]
In May 2024, easyJet announced that the airline would return to base at Southend Airport with six new destinations immediately announced, with those destinations being served by threeAirbus A320neo aircraft.[99] In September 2024, BH Air announced it would renew its Burgas route for the Summer 2025 season, however it was announced in April 2025 that it stopped all flights to all UK airports.[100] Eastern Airways also announced new routes beginning in April 2025.[101]
The current terminal was built in 2012 as a part of theStobart 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.[102]
The London Southend Jet Centre is afixed-base operator 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.[103] The Jet Centre has also acted as the registered office address ofAvooma Airlines since October 2024.[104]
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 Iinstrument landing system.[47][105] In 2019, the runway was resurfaced to grooved asphalt for better durability and performance so that heavier aircraft, such as theBoeing 737-800 andAirbus A321, can commercially operate at the airport.[106]
The airport has its own railway station near the terminal building,Southend Airport on theShenfield-Southend line, which opened in 2011. It is served byGreater Anglia connecting the airport toLiverpool Street in London usually every 20 minutes, with additional services during peak times, and toSouthend Victoria in the other direction. The journey to London takes about 55 minutes.[126]
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.[127]
On 11 February 1944, aBoeing B-17 42-31694 of theUSAAF (511th BS) crash-landed and burned out at Southend after receiving battle damage during a raid onFrankfurt.[136]
On 28 July 1959, an East Anglian Flying ServicesVickers 614 Viking 1 (registered G-AHPH) was written off in a landing accident at the airport. Onapproach, the aircraft's right-hand maingear indicator showed that the gear was unsafe. Anemergency landing 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.[139]
On 3 May 1967, aVickers Viscount ofChannel Airways (registration: G-AVJZ) was written off when a propeller was feathered on take-off. Two people on the ground died.[141]
On 4 May 1968, a Vickers Viscount ofChannel Airways (registration: G-APPU) overran the runway, having landed at too high a speed. The aircraft was written off.[142]
On 3 June 1971, aDouglas DC-3 of Moormanair (registration: PH-MOA) returned for an emergency landing with one engine partially failed shortly after departure to theNetherlands. The aircraft was carrying supporters ofAjax 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.[143][144]
On 4 October 1974, theflight engineer of aDATDouglas DC-6 (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.[145][146]
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.[147][148]
On 12 September 1987, aBeechcraft 200 (registration: G-WSJE) carrying newspapers crashed at night into Mac's Garage on the Eastwood Road inRayleigh. The pilot, 33-year-old Hugh Forrester Brown from nearbyCanewdon, 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.[149]
On 11 January 1988, a Vickers Viscount ofBritish Air Ferries (registration: G-APIM) was damaged beyond economic repair when it was in a ground collision with a FairflightShort 330 (registration: G-BHWT). The BAF Viscount was subsequently repaired and donated toBrooklands Museum for preservation.[150]
On 6 March 1997, aPiper PA-34 Seneca (registration: G-NJML) flying a charter taking aircraft spare parts toOstend crashed 3.5 mi (5.6 km) to the north-east of the airport while attempting to return following the failure of thegyroscope in the aircraft'sattitude indicator. One of the two occupants died; the other was seriously injured.[151]
On 19 July 2006, aCessna 150 (registration: G-BABB) being flown by astudent pilot on his second solo flight crashed into a public park 1 nmi (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) from the airport. The student pilot was fatally injured.[152]
On 13 July 2025, aBeechcraft 200 (registration: PH-ZAZ), operating as Zeusch Aviation Flight 1, crashed shortly after takeoff. Four people were killed.[153][154]
^Airport sold to Eddie StobartArchived 15 October 2011 at theWayback Machine Echo, published 3 December 2008 (The Airport comprises various parts of land that are controlled by several leases and all of the land is controlled by SBC as freehold owner and landlord). Retrieved 17 June 2011
^"Committee meeting minutes"(PDF).Historic Built Environment Advisory Committee meeting minutes. 20 February 2003.Archived(PDF) from the original on 11 August 2012. Retrieved1 November 2007.
^"Southend: Future's bright for our airport"See newspaper Southend Evening Echo, Business News section, 19 December 2003
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