Three new routes for London Southend Airport

London Southend Airport has announced three new routes that will launch this winter, furthering its aim to provide “regional connectivity”.

Flybe’s winter schedule now includes flights to Dublin, Glasgow and Manchester, and the services will be operated through Stobart Air’s partnership with the regional carrier.

The new services to Dublin and Manchester will operate up to three times daily, with Glasgow up to twice daily from Sunday to Friday. All the new routes launch on 29 October.

Glyn Jones, chief executive at Southend Airport said: “The announcement of these new routes further builds on our ambition to make Southend the next big airport by providing fantastic leisure and business destinations to passengers from Essex, London and the South East, and now we can add regional connectivity to that mix.

‘Growing travel market’

“These routes to Dublin, Glasgow and Manchester also show we are listening to our customers and responding – as routes to Ireland and Scotland are among the most requested destinations. Southend Airport is perfectly placed to serve London’s growing travel market, especially in the face of the other London airport capacity constraints.”

The airport’s flights to Budapest, Lyon, Milan Malpensa, Prague, Rennes and Vienna – all launched in May – will continue into the winter months, taking the total number of routes available this winter to 25.

Jones hopes the expanded services will enable the airport to reach 2.5 million passengers next year.

“The wider range of routes gives more choices and opens it up to different markets,” he said. “A lot are leisure routes because 80 per cent of passengers are travelling for leisure but we’ve also added new routes that cater for the business market as well, like Cologne.”