Popular low-cost carrier (LCC) Ryanair has confirmed that it will be leaving London Southend Airport this winter, making it the second airline to close its operations at the Essex-based hub after easyJet made the same call at the end of summer 2020. Southend also lost another major airline customer last year in the form of Flybe when the airline ceased trading.
Ryanair will close its two aircraft base at London Southend from 1 November following a reduction in traffic as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The airline had originally had three aircraft based at Southend from 2019, but already decreased that to two in 2020 due to COVID-19.
The departure of Ryanair leaves London Southend relatively empty, with regular passenger service currently only scheduled for Wizzair, which plans to relaunch its Bucharest route on 1 November.
Having served around 2 million passengers in 2019 with the holiday hotspots of Alicante and Malaga proving popular routes, the airport is reportedly in talks with a range of airlines to see if previously profitable links can be started up again in the future.
Esken, the current operator of Southend, is in the process of reviewing the impact of Ryanair’s departure on its forecasts.
A statement from Esken read: “The financial impact of Ryanair’s base closure will be mitigated by a reduction in costs directly associated with serving Ryanair’s base and the low level of passengers expected during the winter season.”
