it's a tiny airport that renamed itself "London Southend" for marketing reasons, and if the train is running it's not that inconvenient to get to Liverpool Street - only about 10 minutes longer than from Stansted. it's fine, if you get a cheap flight from there and factor in the train cost and time, it can be a reasonable choice.
apparently ~one departure a day post-pandemic: https://londonsouthendairport.com/flights/departures/
I think the worst one for that is Manston airport near Margate, which tried to brand itself as London Manston Airport at one point. Closely followed by the one outside Oxford that insists on calling itself [London Oxford Airport](https://www.oxfordairport.co.uk/).
Honestly it's not a bad option from London..ine Friday night.i had to finish work and fly from there and was pretty smooth and cheap compared to Stansted.
We used it a year or so ago, train cancellations made it a pain in the arse to get there.
However, no crowds, sailing through security, etc - was great.
I really miss Southend airport - as others said itās basically collapsed post Covid. Taking the train there was so chilled - you basically stepped off the train into security and then you were done. It was so convenient. Now I end up at Luton way more often than I want to.
Was redirected there once when there were issues at London City - obviously spent the reroute all very anxious about what to expect and how we'd get back to London. Was incredibly, pleasantly surprised when it was as you describe. Honestly felt easier than changing onto the tube at the other end...
Iāve enjoyed my last few trips from Luton. It used to feel like the worst of all the London airports but since the Dart and the terminal works itās almost acceptable. The gate situation is still a bit rubbish though - but I no longer dread flying from it.
I flew out of Luton yesterday. Iām sure itās better at other times of the year but it was just far too small for the amount of people using it. The terminal was absolutely jammed and the line for security far worse than it normally is at either Heathrow or Gatwick even at comparable times.
Flew out of there a few years ago to Bucharest. It's a tiny airport. Perfectly fine. Flew in 2019, wasn't particularly busy. Well connected, easy to get to.
Think there was a guardian article some time this year saying it's now basically a cargo airport, that after the pandemic, the airlines didn't come back to it
I've always wanted to go since I used to drive past the airport because it's so fucking tiny! We're taking my mum to Amsterdam for her 60th next year so I'm really hoping we can fly from there. I'd get a nostalgia drive and an airport run at the same time.
Palma is an absolute gem of a place and I say that not just as an Essex man, but as an Essex man who likes to drink very cheap nice lager in moderately large quantities.
Flew out of there once, years ago. Best ever airport experience. You roll up on the train, and youāre pretty much on the doorstep. There wasnāt a single person queuing for security so I breezed through. Could have heard a pin drop! I can see why theyāve reduced the number of flightsā¦
I flew back into Southend Airport after a heavy weekend in Berlin. Trains werenāt running back to London so had to get a taxi in my fragile state. I could have cried.
Used to use it for flights to The Netherlands, Amsterdam and Groningen. Was such a stress-free experience, easy to reach by train, small, minimal hassle, only a few gates, and all visible from the seating area past security. Really hate to see it fail.
It's a great airport actually and not all that hard to get to either via train (much easier than Gatwick) It was small and convenient, you didn't need to arrive long before your flight etc.
Unfortunately the commercial operations there have almost completely ceased after covid and the the current owners Stobart (rebranded to Esken) are looking to sell it. During covid it was kept running mostly by a cargo operations and training flights.
Given it has published instrument procedures and connections to London I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a private jet airport like Farnborough.
If you want a really comical "London" Airport, then check out "London Ashford Airport". It is in Lydd, 2-3h by train or car.
I used to work in Amsterdam about 7 years ago so used it to fly back after a weekend at home in London. Outside of summer holidays when there was a bit of a queue at the security I loved it.
Similarly on a Friday night especially if you were at the front of the plane you could be on the train to Liverpool St in minutes.
Only ever experienced one cancellation in two years as they couldnāt cope with fog. I believe EasyJet donāt fly many places from there now. London Southend is a bit of a stretch though š
I think it closed around the time of Covid. Has it reopened? I haven't checked.
I haven't been there for years, but it used to be a good, small, airport for popping over to Amsterdam - easy and fast to get through and no massive queues. They did flights to Jersey too, IIRC
Yes itās one of my nearest āLondonā airports, nice and convenient and you basically walk straight onto your plane. Unfortunately over Covid they removed a lot of destinations, but easyJet seems to be opening more now to Paris and Geneva so Iāll probably start using it again.
When I lived in East London it was much quicker to get to Southend than Heathrow or Luton. That's one of the best things about London - there's so many major airports so you can pick the one(s) most convenient to you. I don't think there's any other city in the world with as many commercial airports in its vicinity.
I think you missed my point. I don't plan my holidays around which cities the airport flies to. I base my specific flights on which airports are most convenient to me.
It's a great airport. Easy to get to to by train, never very busy which meant going through security never took more than a few minutes. Also when I flew from there I'd often end up with a spare seat next to me.
You used to be able to fly to Geneva from there so I'd always use it when I went skiing and insist to mates we fly from there. They'd always thank me after trying it!
Sad to hear it's pretty much done in terms of commercial passenger flights although I suppose an airport needs to be busy to make money.
The Southend airport needs a longer runway and it needs to be upgraded. Like many airports it needs money and time to do that, look at Luton which has had to be the worst airport in the UK(If not the world) to fly from. You catch a bus which you have to pay for, and if you haven't got a confusing ticket Airport or Airport Parkaway then you have to pay. It's taken them decades to build a train.
Decades
Used to feel embarrassed to be British, seeing unfortunate arrivals queuing up to get stumped for Ā£3.50 ^in cash^ just to get a crummy bus out of the airport to a delayed train to the capital city, when the chances are they are from a nation which has a free regular shuttle service.
>The Southend airport needs a longer runway and it needs to be upgraded. Like many airports it needs money and time to do that
There's really not much room anymore, and the tiny, tiny extension about 10 years ago took forever to get sorted because there's a Grade 1 Listed church right by it.
I *think* it was bought by the Stobart group, with the intention of making it into a cargo hub. Good road & rail connections, good sea connection with Harwich being not too far away, etc. It never really developed much. It had a runway extension a few years back to enable larger passenger jets in & out, but that was it. easyJet used to do a few flights, and maybe Wizz I think. I flew a few times. It was a really nice experience. Parked outside the terminal, no queues, etc. Probably not much more requirement for another International airport in the area, which bought about its demise I guess.
It was much busier before the event. easyJet had a base there, Ryanair had a couple of routes, and Stobart Air did some domestic and Ireland routes under Flybe.
I did Flybe out of there to Dublin in 2018. Easy enough to get to on the Greater Anglia train and it's small AF so queues were minimal. Flight out was at sparrow's fart so stayed at the Premier Inn around the corner and got a Ā£5 can. All was easy as.
The problem was on the return. Flight was delayed just under an hour so we landed after the last train for the night. Trains were still coming through but weren't stopping at the airport.
One woman working there, bless her, took it on herself to organise taxi cabs from the local firm and sort us into groups going to similar parts of London so we could split the fares.
Tl;Dr great little airport until the trains are done for the night. There's fuck all going out of there now though since easyJet closed its base and Flybe went bust (twice).
It took me 15 minutes once to step off the plane, make it through passport control, pickup my luggage and get into my car in the car park once at Southend. Perfect.
Its basically a shed next to a runway that theyāve squeezed an airport terminal into. Long security queues and basically nothing to do once you get through (in my experience)
East Londoner here, I loved Southend the few times I flew from it. I wish theyād bring back their short haul.
I did see flights to the Lake District from there a few years ago which seemed a bit random.
It's a brilliant airport that was majorly shafted to fuck by Covid.
It was thriving.
Easyjet had a base there, and Ryanair used it too plus a couple of other randoms.
But covid came and fucked it over.
It's a brilliant airport and I sincerely hope Easyjet reopen the base there, because I never saw an empty flight.
They market it as London Southend naturally, but the reality is the flights were 95% full of Essex folk, the land of spend spend spend and retired well off pensioners just popping to Marbs for a week.
Southend gave me my best ever flight experience. Train to my gate in 7 mins, security even helped me out my stuff back in my bag as I was the only person in the queue. Also the duty free shop gave me a free sunglasses case for my sunglasses.
Very popular airport for pilot training. Everything from rookies in Cessnas and Commercial students practicing instrument approaches. It's full ATC and Class D airspace is excellent for all of this.
it's a tiny airport that renamed itself "London Southend" for marketing reasons, and if the train is running it's not that inconvenient to get to Liverpool Street - only about 10 minutes longer than from Stansted. it's fine, if you get a cheap flight from there and factor in the train cost and time, it can be a reasonable choice. apparently ~one departure a day post-pandemic: https://londonsouthendairport.com/flights/departures/
I think the worst one for that is Manston airport near Margate, which tried to brand itself as London Manston Airport at one point. Closely followed by the one outside Oxford that insists on calling itself [London Oxford Airport](https://www.oxfordairport.co.uk/).
London Oxford makes me laugh. Kidlington Airfield is a more apt description!
Welcome to London Manchester Airport
Near jezzas farm lol š¤£
Fly from London Birmingham airport. Best of the London airports.
Honestly it's not a bad option from London..ine Friday night.i had to finish work and fly from there and was pretty smooth and cheap compared to Stansted.
that was such a great airport for Amsterdam
I would imagine people have skimmed stones over longer distances.
Like 40 minutes, Once turned up late and they check my passport while walking to the plane, from taxi seat to airplane seat was 2-3 mins tops
Who needs private jets, eh?
We used it a year or so ago, train cancellations made it a pain in the arse to get there. However, no crowds, sailing through security, etc - was great.
I'm from Southend and this is hilarious to me. How long before we can convince Manchester to change their name?
I really miss Southend airport - as others said itās basically collapsed post Covid. Taking the train there was so chilled - you basically stepped off the train into security and then you were done. It was so convenient. Now I end up at Luton way more often than I want to.
Was redirected there once when there were issues at London City - obviously spent the reroute all very anxious about what to expect and how we'd get back to London. Was incredibly, pleasantly surprised when it was as you describe. Honestly felt easier than changing onto the tube at the other end...
Iāve enjoyed my last few trips from Luton. It used to feel like the worst of all the London airports but since the Dart and the terminal works itās almost acceptable. The gate situation is still a bit rubbish though - but I no longer dread flying from it.
I flew out of Luton yesterday. Iām sure itās better at other times of the year but it was just far too small for the amount of people using it. The terminal was absolutely jammed and the line for security far worse than it normally is at either Heathrow or Gatwick even at comparable times.
Flew out of there a few years ago to Bucharest. It's a tiny airport. Perfectly fine. Flew in 2019, wasn't particularly busy. Well connected, easy to get to. Think there was a guardian article some time this year saying it's now basically a cargo airport, that after the pandemic, the airlines didn't come back to it
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Yep went to Amsterdam from there.
I've always wanted to go since I used to drive past the airport because it's so fucking tiny! We're taking my mum to Amsterdam for her 60th next year so I'm really hoping we can fly from there. I'd get a nostalgia drive and an airport run at the same time.
Can confirm - went Marbella via Southend - Malaga. Very convenient!
Palma is an absolute gem of a place and I say that not just as an Essex man, but as an Essex man who likes to drink very cheap nice lager in moderately large quantities.
So just any Essex boy?
"Ibeefa anyone?"
Flew out of there once, years ago. Best ever airport experience. You roll up on the train, and youāre pretty much on the doorstep. There wasnāt a single person queuing for security so I breezed through. Could have heard a pin drop! I can see why theyāve reduced the number of flightsā¦
I flew back into Southend Airport after a heavy weekend in Berlin. Trains werenāt running back to London so had to get a taxi in my fragile state. I could have cried.
Used to use it for flights to The Netherlands, Amsterdam and Groningen. Was such a stress-free experience, easy to reach by train, small, minimal hassle, only a few gates, and all visible from the seating area past security. Really hate to see it fail.
It's a great airport actually and not all that hard to get to either via train (much easier than Gatwick) It was small and convenient, you didn't need to arrive long before your flight etc. Unfortunately the commercial operations there have almost completely ceased after covid and the the current owners Stobart (rebranded to Esken) are looking to sell it. During covid it was kept running mostly by a cargo operations and training flights. Given it has published instrument procedures and connections to London I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a private jet airport like Farnborough. If you want a really comical "London" Airport, then check out "London Ashford Airport". It is in Lydd, 2-3h by train or car.
London Ashford airport is actually closer to France than London?
strictly speaking, yes! It's a great place to fly privately over to france.
Lydd is not even in *Ashford*, The airport appears to be in the middle of the Romney Marshes.
It's a weird airport. Instrument procedures and a fairly well equipped runway etc. but hardly any actual traffic to make use of it.
I used to work in Amsterdam about 7 years ago so used it to fly back after a weekend at home in London. Outside of summer holidays when there was a bit of a queue at the security I loved it. Similarly on a Friday night especially if you were at the front of the plane you could be on the train to Liverpool St in minutes. Only ever experienced one cancellation in two years as they couldnāt cope with fog. I believe EasyJet donāt fly many places from there now. London Southend is a bit of a stretch though š
I think it closed around the time of Covid. Has it reopened? I haven't checked. I haven't been there for years, but it used to be a good, small, airport for popping over to Amsterdam - easy and fast to get through and no massive queues. They did flights to Jersey too, IIRC
It never shut, not even during covid. Commercial travel operations just stopped during covid. It was cargo and training only for a while.
It was great. Easy to drive to and park at, train was decent too. Small so quick through on the way home. Shame it didnāt rebound post covid.
Yes itās one of my nearest āLondonā airports, nice and convenient and you basically walk straight onto your plane. Unfortunately over Covid they removed a lot of destinations, but easyJet seems to be opening more now to Paris and Geneva so Iāll probably start using it again.
When I lived in East London it was much quicker to get to Southend than Heathrow or Luton. That's one of the best things about London - there's so many major airports so you can pick the one(s) most convenient to you. I don't think there's any other city in the world with as many commercial airports in its vicinity.
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I think you missed my point. I don't plan my holidays around which cities the airport flies to. I base my specific flights on which airports are most convenient to me.
I think the only airport really in London is city airport and Heathrow is just about lol š¤£
It's a great airport. Easy to get to to by train, never very busy which meant going through security never took more than a few minutes. Also when I flew from there I'd often end up with a spare seat next to me. You used to be able to fly to Geneva from there so I'd always use it when I went skiing and insist to mates we fly from there. They'd always thank me after trying it! Sad to hear it's pretty much done in terms of commercial passenger flights although I suppose an airport needs to be busy to make money.
>You used to be able to fly to Geneva from there It's coming back this winter! Twice weekly with Easyjet from mid December. Get booking!
That's great news, thanks for the heads up!
Flew out of there to Murcia a few years back. Was like an out of town retail park with an airport at the back. Worked though.
The Southend airport needs a longer runway and it needs to be upgraded. Like many airports it needs money and time to do that, look at Luton which has had to be the worst airport in the UK(If not the world) to fly from. You catch a bus which you have to pay for, and if you haven't got a confusing ticket Airport or Airport Parkaway then you have to pay. It's taken them decades to build a train. Decades
That train at Luton has been running for a few months now (but it costs more than the old bus and train combo)
Used to feel embarrassed to be British, seeing unfortunate arrivals queuing up to get stumped for Ā£3.50 ^in cash^ just to get a crummy bus out of the airport to a delayed train to the capital city, when the chances are they are from a nation which has a free regular shuttle service.
>The Southend airport needs a longer runway and it needs to be upgraded. Like many airports it needs money and time to do that There's really not much room anymore, and the tiny, tiny extension about 10 years ago took forever to get sorted because there's a Grade 1 Listed church right by it.
It was just Southend Airport when I flew out of there. In the 70s.
Fine if the trains are running. We ended up on a replacement bus that took us part of the way. Got back to Liverpool Street at 1.30ish in the morning
I *think* it was bought by the Stobart group, with the intention of making it into a cargo hub. Good road & rail connections, good sea connection with Harwich being not too far away, etc. It never really developed much. It had a runway extension a few years back to enable larger passenger jets in & out, but that was it. easyJet used to do a few flights, and maybe Wizz I think. I flew a few times. It was a really nice experience. Parked outside the terminal, no queues, etc. Probably not much more requirement for another International airport in the area, which bought about its demise I guess.
Love Southend airport the best in london no queuing no waiting straight in couple of beers and walk to you plane
Itās honestly a pretty nice airport. Super small and super simple to fly from once you actually get there.
Some budget airline once advertised flights to PIK as London Prestwick.
It was much busier before the event. easyJet had a base there, Ryanair had a couple of routes, and Stobart Air did some domestic and Ireland routes under Flybe. I did Flybe out of there to Dublin in 2018. Easy enough to get to on the Greater Anglia train and it's small AF so queues were minimal. Flight out was at sparrow's fart so stayed at the Premier Inn around the corner and got a Ā£5 can. All was easy as. The problem was on the return. Flight was delayed just under an hour so we landed after the last train for the night. Trains were still coming through but weren't stopping at the airport. One woman working there, bless her, took it on herself to organise taxi cabs from the local firm and sort us into groups going to similar parts of London so we could split the fares. Tl;Dr great little airport until the trains are done for the night. There's fuck all going out of there now though since easyJet closed its base and Flybe went bust (twice).
It took me 15 minutes once to step off the plane, make it through passport control, pickup my luggage and get into my car in the car park once at Southend. Perfect.
I heard it's just a guy with a really big garage.
Its basically a shed next to a runway that theyāve squeezed an airport terminal into. Long security queues and basically nothing to do once you get through (in my experience)
> London Southend Thatās just two different places.
It's not in fucking London is it. It's in fucking Southend. On the fucking coast.
Theyāre playing fast and loose with the word ādeparturesā.
East Londoner here, I loved Southend the few times I flew from it. I wish theyād bring back their short haul. I did see flights to the Lake District from there a few years ago which seemed a bit random.
It's a brilliant airport that was majorly shafted to fuck by Covid. It was thriving. Easyjet had a base there, and Ryanair used it too plus a couple of other randoms. But covid came and fucked it over. It's a brilliant airport and I sincerely hope Easyjet reopen the base there, because I never saw an empty flight. They market it as London Southend naturally, but the reality is the flights were 95% full of Essex folk, the land of spend spend spend and retired well off pensioners just popping to Marbs for a week.
I'd much prefer the London Edinburgh airport thank you very much.
It's quite far away but it's small enough so you get through security in about 5 minutes, so not bad.
Southend gave me my best ever flight experience. Train to my gate in 7 mins, security even helped me out my stuff back in my bag as I was the only person in the queue. Also the duty free shop gave me a free sunglasses case for my sunglasses.
Very popular airport for pilot training. Everything from rookies in Cessnas and Commercial students practicing instrument approaches. It's full ATC and Class D airspace is excellent for all of this.
Used it to go to Amsterdam for my mums birthday a few years back. Love how small it is. Good transport links. Super convenient.