UK low-cost carrier EasyJet will operate three Airbus A320neos at London Southend airport from March next year after announcing plans to restore its base there.
EasyJet previously operated a base at Southend from 2012 before it was one of three UK sites closed when the pandemic hit in 2020.
“We closed this base at the start of the pandemic, which was more about at that point of time right-sizing the network to where we were,” said EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren during a half-year results call on 16 May.
”But we have seen a huge improvement in the flying we do into Southend, so we see there is a strong demand for that base. And also with the EasyJet holidays business now, it changes the opportunity we have overall because there is a big catchment area for holidays that we can provide. So we are really confident about that base.”
EasyJet already serves Southend from Amsterdam, Geneva, Faro, Palma de Mallorca, Malaga and Paris Charles de Gaulle. It will now add six new routes – Pisa, Gran Canaria, Dalaman and Antalya, Marrakech as well as Enfidha in Tunisia – following the opening of the base.
It will mark the carrier’s 10th UK base, having recently launched an operation from Birmingham International airport.
