EasyJet opens base at Southend airport

EasyJet has opened its 10th UK base at Southend airport, creating 140 jobs for pilots and cabin crew.

The airline said basing three A320neo aircraft at the Essex airport will support a total of around 1,200 jobs.

Some 122 flights per week will be operated by the carrier from the airport this summer, more than twice as many as last year, to leisure destinations across Europe and north Africa.

The number of routes will double from 10 to 20.

It will serve Barcelona, Lanzarote and Salzburg from October.

EasyJet stopped operating flights at Southend airport in September 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It resumed operations in May 2022 without basing planes there until Monday.

EasyJet and its package holiday division easyJet Holidays are anticipating record demand this summer.

Speaking at a launch event at Southend airport, easyJet chief executive Kenton Jarvis said: “Aviation plays a crucial role as an enabler of economic growth by providing much-needed connectivity and creating many skilled jobs for regions like these, which in turn contribute to the wider prosperity of the UK.

“Through our UK fleet growth, unrivalled short-haul network and unique easyJet Holidays offering, our new base at London Southend further consolidates our position as the UK’s largest leisure airline.”

Aviation minister Mike Kane welcomed the base opening and said the industry is “critical to unlocking economic growth across the country”.

He went on: “We are committed to working hand in hand with the sector to help build a resilient UK workforce, and together with (easyJet’s) plans to expand its fleet, I know this move will propel an aviation economic boom in the region and create hundreds of jobs across the sector.”

Southend airport chief executive Jude Winstanley described the launch as a “significant milestone for both the airport and the local community”.

He said: “The creation of wider employment for 1,200 jobs in the region, including 140 new jobs for airport colleagues, reflects the positive momentum we are seeing as we head into our biggest summer for six years.

“Our airport is uniquely positioned to offer passengers a seamless travel experience, with our dedicated, on-site train link connecting central London to the airport in under an hour and Stratford in just 43 minutes.”

EasyJet is the airline with the largest capacity at Southend airport.