EasyJet has confirmed it will go ahead with plans to close its Stansted, Southend and Newcastle bases, with 670 jobs at risk.
It means all flights out of Southend from 1 September will be cancelled. Some flights from Stansted and Newcastle will also be axed, although those two airports will remain part of easyJet’s route network.
Newcastle to Bristol, Belfast and Nice and Stansted to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast and Amsterdam will continue.
Affected passengers can switch to another easyJet flight for free on most destinations, excluding Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Morocco; transfer to a flight to their original destination from a different airport; get a refund or claim a voucher.
Passengers will also be able to claim additional costs such as rebooked train journeys to the airport.
EasyJet CEO Johan Lundgren said: "We have had to take the very difficult decision to close three UK bases as a result of the unprecedented impact of the pandemic and related travel restrictions, compounded by quarantine measures in the UK which is impacting demand for travel.
"Working closely with our employee representatives, I am pleased that we have been able to identify ways to significantly reduce the number of proposed compulsory redundancies through providing enhanced voluntary redundancy packages for all UK crew alongside additional options like part time and seasonal contracts, base transfers and unpaid leave which we expect to result in reducing the number of job losses overall.
"We would like to reassure customers due to fly from these airports that we are now contacting anyone whose flight is affected with clear advice on their options which include rerouting via alternative airports or receiving a full refund.
"I know this is a very difficult time for our pilots and crew and I would like to thank them for their continued professionalism."
