London's Southend Airport celebrated its first post-pandemic flights from Amsterdam and Faro this week. Both services are complements of easyJet and complete the Essex airport's summer roster of destinations.

Simple Flying was on hand for Wednesday's inaugural service from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Passengers on the departing flight were treated to a brilliant performance from The Music Man Project, an Essex-based music education charity for people with learning disabilities, while they checked in.

Security at the airport was a breeze, with most customers reaching the airside within moments. Upon arrival in the departures area, passengers were treated to a live DJ set from ASHBY, quality time with a therapy dog, and complimentary cocktails while awaiting departures.

Four destinations for the summer

Flights from London Southend Airport to Amsterdam will operate up to four times a week throughout summer, departing Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. With the addition of these new flights, easyJet's operations at London Southend have increased by 30% compared to Summer 2022, with up to 18 flights per week. Ali Gayward, easyJet's UK Country Manager, shared their excitement for the new routes to begin:

“We are delighted to be celebrating the launch of our new route between London Southend and Amsterdam today. The new route is set to be popular with business and leisure passengers alike and we’re excited to see the first flights take off today. The addition of Amsterdam, joining Malaga, Faro and Palma as easyJet destinations from London Southend enables us to provide our customers with an even wider range of fantastic beach and city routes across Europe.

“We remain committed to strengthening our unrivalled short-haul network and providing affordable and convenient connections for our customers across the UK, all with great value fares and the warm welcome that our crew are famous for.”

The inbound flight arrived from Faro several minutes ahead of schedule at 16:04. The Airbus A320 (OE-ITC) proceeded to fly to Amsterdam, back to Southend for the return flight, and then returned to Faro late Wednesday evening.

Who is flying from Southend?

Passengers in the waiting area had various reasons for choosing this inaugural flight from London Southend to Amsterdam. Local small business champion Laura Jordan chose today's flight because she had never been to Amsterdam, and Southend Airport was right on her doorstep. Jordan, who runs local community pages, including Love.LeighOnSea was not even aware this was the first flight and booked it mainly because it was the first flight that fit her schedule.

Other passengers had booked because of Southend's reputation for quick plane-to-train times. London Liverpool Street is only 53 minutes by train, and Stratford can be reached only 43 minutes from the airport's dedicated train station. Musician Daniel took a coach down with his partner Sophie from Birmingham to Southend as they had to make it to Britain's Got Talent in London as soon as they landed back in the UK.

Local residents are also demanding more flights. Brayden, from Benfleet, had just returned from Turkey and was excited to go on another city break. He chose Amsterdam because "you can fly from here" and hoped an airline would soon introduce services to Barcelona and Alicante. The airport currently has flights to the Spanish capital of Madrid and debuted a route to the Balearic island of Palma de Mallorca in March.

Amsterdam-bound passenger JP from Rayleigh was excited about the new destinations from his local airport but hoped for more winter seasonal services, especially to European Christmas Markets.

What's next for London Southend?

Simple Flying spoke exclusively to Southend Airport's Business Development Director, Nigel Mayes, at the event to discuss the airport's future. Hoping to get some ski flying, Mayes specifically mentioned Geneva, a popular route for easyJet in the past. Winter sun is also on the bucket list for Britons looking to get away and international tourists arriving for city breaks. The airport interestingly has a solitary Lapland flight to Rovaniemi scheduled for next winter with Titan Airways.

In addition to the East London market, Southend also captures passengers from up the A12 into cities including Chelmsford, Colchester, and Ipswich, from which travel time to Gatwick or Heathrow can reach three hours. According to Mayes, the presence of services also simulates demand:

“We know that when we have service like we had to Dublin, the market grew from this particular catchment area because people travel more frequently.”

London to Dublin is one of the busiest city pairs regarding flight connections and was previously ranked as the busiest international link in Europe. There are over 800 flights per week between Dublin and the six airports currently serving London. Southend also receives a significant amount of private and general aviation traffic bound for London during times it doesn't see commercial flights. At its peak in 2019, the airport served over two million customers.

What's next for London's sixth airport?

easyJet announced this week it will resume its route from London Southend to Paris Charles de Gaulle. The service will operate up to four times a week from October 29th. Flights will depart on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays year-round.

The airport also hopes to have an aircraft based there by the summer of 2024. Having an aircraft based in Southend would increase the number of options for winter flying and potential destinations, as carriers would no longer have to rely on aircraft from other bases, such as Paris or Amsterdam, to fit London into their schedules.

The Channel Islands remain a prime unserved destination. A previous link to Jersey served more than 77,500 passengers on 12 weekly flights with an average load factor of 79.8%. Strasbourg, which holds the formal seat of the European Parliament and several international institutions, currently has no direct flights from London. Southend's pre-covid service carried over 90,000 passengers in 2015 and maintained high passenger loads.

France's Emerald Coast is another targeted destination and one of France's most fashionable seaside resorts and gateway to Normandy's Mont Sant-Michel. Over half a million passengers flew between the airport and Dinard between 2013 and 2020.