Southend Airport to contend with Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted with the arrival of EasyJet.

We have all flown from Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick, but now London’s sixth major airport looks set to be a further option of flight departures for the masses seeking sunnier climes.

From 2012, the budget airline EasyJet will operate 70 flights a week from Southend Airport, flying to ten popular European getaway destinations, such as Milan, Berlin and Barcelona.

Talking about the convenience London’s Southend will bring to passengers travelling in Europe, Alastair Welch, the airport’s managing director stated:

“It’s an ideal getaway for both business and leisure travel across Europe. Our size means no passenger will ever queue for more than four minutes for security, and as we’re designed only for short-haul travel, with 10 aircraft stands, there won’t be long distances to travel through the terminal.”

Whilst the new announcement will inevitably boost the profile of London’s lesser known airport, EasyJet is as equally excited about opening at London Southend.

“We are excited to be opening London Southend as EasyJet’s 20^th base airport. The airport is in a fantastic location just outside London with a fast rail link into the city,” says Easyjet’s customer and revenue director Catherine Lynn.

During the last 12 months Southend Airport has built an airport hotel, is working on an extended runway, and has inaugurated a new state-of-the-art control tower.

All of which make the airport better equipped to compete with the ‘big boy’ airports such as Gatwick and Heathrow.

The new transport link includes a new railway station at Southend Airport, which will run eight services an hour from Stratford to East London, the heart of the London Olympics 2012.

With its new and revamped services together with a leading low-cost airline being based there, Southend Airport looks set to be a leading airport to bring passengers to London for next year’s Olympic Games, and in doing so London’s sixth biggest airport is predicted to break the million-passenger-a-year barrier next year, halfway to its target of two million passengers a years by 2020.