Yesterday I flew out of London Southend for the first time, which completes the list of London airports I’ve flown in and out of. I’d been meaning to fly out of Southend Airport for a long time, so when the opportunity arose, I was sure to take the opportunity.
So how was it? On the plus side, Southend was very easy to fly out of, and not that difficult to get to from London. However, it’s my view that the airport serves a different community, has no connectivity or pricing gain compared to Luton or Stansted, and overall just shouldn’t be considered a London airport.
Let me chat a bit about my experience flying out of Southend, and I’ll elaborate on these thoughts a bit.
Where is London Southend Airport?
It’s cool that I get to write about a “London” airport, but London Southend Airport is not in London, plain and simple. Stansted Airport is right next to a resort town called Southend-on-Sea, which is located on the UK’s east coast. Here’s a Google Maps pin drop of Southend Airport relative to London (for non-Londoners, the M25 generally is where most Londoners would consider as the city borders).
That being said, purely based on location, Southend isn’t that much further away from London than Stansted and Luton are. It’s approximately a 53 minute journey to get to Stansted from Liverpool Street on a stopping service, whereas the nonstop train to Stansted takes 46 minutes.
I think the key differentiator is how easy the airport is to get to. While there’s a direct train from Liverpool Street to Southend Airport, the airport’s train station is a mere stop along the train’s route to Southend Victoria, and the route itself is fairly popular commuter route for Londoners. Also, if the Greater Anglia line is down for whatever reason, there’s literally no other direct way to get to the airport.
Compare that to Luton or Stansted – there are express trains (Stansted has a dedicated service, whereas Luton’s service is an express service to Luton Airport Parkway before serving other destinations), and there’s also good bus infrastructure if the train is down or facing severe delays.
Southend isn’t hard to get to, but the infrastructure isn’t the same as going to Stansted or Luton
London Southend Airport is quite easy to get to – it simply requires taking a direct Greater Anglia train from Liverpool Street (these are the same guys that operate the Stansted Express). In my case, I live quite close to Stratford, so I just headed there, and caught a train departing out of Stratford station (the first station on the Southend Victoria line, which goes past Southend Airport). The train runs once every 20 minutes, which isn’t bad at all.
The journey from Stratford to Southend cost £12.15 with a railcard.
Catching the Greater Anglia train at Southend Airport
The train stopped at quite a few places before ending up at Southend Airport, the penultimate stop of the train line. When I got to Southend Airport, I genuinely thought I was in the middle of nowhere. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, though the stop was in the middle of a field, with a residential area in the distance.
Southend Airport station
The airport was on the other side of the station, and it wasn’t very big – I’ve flown out of smaller airports in the past, though it still seemed quite strange to see an airport of this size with the word “London” on it.
London Southend Airport Entrance
My journey was painless, and I wouldn’t really mind doing it again. However, it’s quite apparent that travel isn’t set up with the same sort of ease that you’d expect from going to the other London airports. Step-free access isn’t as easy (there’s a lift, though you might need to wait), the train stops at many other destinations, and it’s also a more packed train than the Stansted Express is (2-3 configuration, and generally is more full). Crucially, if the Greater Anglia train is down or facing severe delays, you’re more or less stranded at Southend Airport.
Southend is completely dominated by easyJet
I knew that easyJet had by far the biggest presence at Southend Airport, though somehow I hadn’t imagined it’d be the only player at the airport. The check-in and bag drop area was completely dominated by orange stanchion belts and barriers.
Southend Airport check-in hall
Having done my research, all but up to one flight per day from Southend is operated by easyJet, which is crazy. That one other flight is operated by domestic airline Eastern Airways, which operates six flights a week to Newquay, Cornwall (in southwest UK).
Southend offers almost zero connectivity or pricing advantage
Gatwick, Stansted and Luton are all a distance away from London, though depending on where you live, sometimes it can make sense to fly into these airports. For example, those living in south London (such as Clapham) would find Gatwick quite convenient; those living in northeast London or the City might find Stansted easier to get to; whereas if you live in north London, you might actually find it quite easy to get to Luton.
Stansted covers all the bases that Southend could cover, except Southend is further, isn’t served by an express train. Many of the places where Southend serves a genuine geographical advantage are out of London. Also, if Greater Anglia isn’t running as scheduled (and you don’t have a car), you’ll have a much harder time getting in/out of Southend than any other London airport.
Because of the lack of flights out of Southend generally, I have a hard time finding circumstances where flying out of Southend is cheaper. While easyJet’s cheapest flights at reasonable times (e.g. not arriving Palma de Mallorca at 1 AM) are often out of Southend, Ryanair and other airlines generally have comparable fares out of much larger airports, that aren’t much harder to navigate.
Also, it goes without saying, but all destinations out of Southend are also served by other London airports.
Southend is very easy to get through, but Stansted and Luton aren’t nightmares either (perhaps except during really busy times)
I found Southend to be easy to get through, though it still took around 5-10 minutes to get through security, and I’m guessing this would pile up closer to when planes were departing. I definitely wouldn’t budget too much time to get through Southend security.
However, I don’t think Stansted and Luton took much more time either? Both airports have far larger security facilities, and I’ve not heard recently horror stories from people going through either. Sure, I haven’t been through Stansted or Luton on a Saturday morning in the peak of summer, though generally I find departures efficiency out of all London airports to be good, especially without having to go through immigration control. You don’t have to take liquids or electronics out of your bag at most London airports anymore, which is a plus.
Getting through Southend was very easy, but I also find it generally to be painless out of Stansted and Luton
So I don’t actually think there’s an operational efficiency-related benefit to flying out of Southend Airport (perhaps there is during peak season? Let me know…)
Southend generally serves a different community
I had a chat with quite a few friendly staff members at Southend Airport, and they verified that a vast majority of travellers flying out of Southend are travellers from locations based around the area. Apart from Southend-on-sea, Chelmsford is also a small distance away, and there are many other people living in southern Essex.
The staff at the airport were also generally super friendly – when we were waiting to board our easyJet flight in a very greenhouse-like corridor, one of the gate agents asked whether anyone wanted a chair to sit on. Everything felt super friendly, though not necessarily centered on the lightning-quick turnarounds and efficiency you’d expect from a high-activity London airport.
Greenhouse-like boarding corridor at Southend Airport
Of course there are people from London who visit the airport as well, though I don’t think this constituted a majority of passengers.
Southend Airport does have a significantly more pleasant Priority Pass lounge
One thing I need to give Southend Airport credit for is its significantly more pleasant Priority Pass lounge, compared to Stansted or Luton. There was no queue to get into the lounge, it was a good size and had decent alcoholic beverage options, albeit a very limited food and non-alcoholic beverage selection. Unfortunately the lounge does use the shared airport WiFi, which is good, but not particularly fast or easy to connect to.
Stansted and Luton both have lounges that are so packed that you need to be on a waiting list or pre-book just to get in, whereas at Southend Airport you’ll have a handful of passengers in the lounge at most, and you’ll always be able to find a seat. Seating options are also miles better here than at the Escape Lounge at Stansted Airport (Luton Airport’s lounges have better seating options).
Skylife Lounge @ The Pilot Café at Southend Airport
Conclusion: “London” Southend Airport
Southend Airport is a pleasant airport to transit, and if the price was right, I wouldn’t hesitate to book a flight out of here again. I just don’t think there’s much of a reason to go through here – it’s harder to get to compared to other London airports, not significantly easier to transit through, and the pricing isn’t usually better.
What’s your take on London Southend Airport?