Southend Airport announces plans for new business flights as earnings rise - TravelMole


Southend Airport announces plans for new business flights as earnings rise

Saturday, 19 Oct, 2017 0

The boss of Southend Airport’s parent company has said he will be ‘extremely surprised and disappointed’ if at least one additional airline doesn’t launch flights from the London airfield next year.

Glyn Jones, CEO of Stobart Aviation, said he is talking to ‘two or three’ airlines every day to attract new business to the airport, which saw passenger numbers rise 25% year on year to 610,495 in the six months to the end of August.

In addition to leisure routes, Jones is hoping to pull in airlines offering flights to Europe’s business centres. "At 19%, our level of repeat business is quite high, so if we can deliver on leisure routes I am absolutely sure we can deliver on business routes, so we are looking at city pairs such as Paris," he said.

Stobart Aviation’s earning rose £5.2 million in the six months to the end of August to £6.2 million, although Jones said 80% of the increase was due to the inclusion of its airline Stobart Air and its aircraft leasing company.

The Group has confirmed a fourth easyJet aircraft will be based at Southend from summer 2018, adding approximately 270,000 passengers per annum.

Stobart Group is also investing in the launch of 11 new routes with Flybe in order to attract more customers from the catchment area of 6.4 million people based within one hour’s travel of our airport.

The Flybe franchise with Stobart Air will add a fourth aircraft from this winter and a fifth aircraft from next summer, adding approximately 250,000 passengers a year.

At the same time, Jones said Stobart was ‘very close’ to the end of a project to develop Carlisle Lake District Airport, with commercial operations expected to begin in 2018.



Related News Stories:  



 

profileimage

Linsey McNeill

Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk



Most Read

Kittipong Prapattong’s Plan for Thailand’s Tourism Growth: Taxes, Visas, and Campaigns

James Jin: Didatravel’s Journey from China to Global Reach and the Impact of AI on Travel

Darien Schaefer on Pensacola’s Evolution: From Small Town to Global Destination

Florida Tourism’s Next Frontier: Dana Young on Expanding Beyond the Classics

Patrick Harrison on Tampa Bay Tourism’s Resilience and Marketing Strategy

Bubba O’Keefe on Clarksdale’s Vibrant Music Scene

Commemorating Elvis and Embracing Tupelo’s Culture with Jennie Bradford Curlee

Craig Ray and the Expansion of the Blues Trail

Presenting Mississippi’s Cultural Trails with Katie Coats

Robert Terrell: A Journey Through BB King’s Influence

Rochelle Hicks: Celebrating Mississippi’s Musical Legacy

Exploring Jacksonville with Katie Mitura: The Flip Side of Florida
TRAINING & COMPETITION

Our emails to you has bounced travelmole.com Or You can change your email from your profile Setting Section

Your region selection will be saved in your cookie for future visits. Please enable your cookie for TravelMole.com so this dialog box will not come up again.

Price Based Country test mode enabled for testing United States (US). You should do tests on private browsing mode. Browse in private with Firefox, Chrome and Safari