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THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT
This lounge is nothing worth arriving early for, though its competitive advantage is that it's never, ever crowded, with good seating and WiFi |
3.0
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In June 2025, I flew out of Southend Airport for the first time. Southend Airport has one lounge, which acts as the airport’s Priority Pass lounge (none of the airlines flying out of the airport feature business class). This recently refurbished lounge re-opened in April 2025, after being ranked the worst in the country for a few consecutive years prior.
Even after the refurbishment, not that much has changed at the SKYLIFE lounge – just the furniture, and a deep clean. However, I didn’t find the lounge to be that bad – crucially, the SKYLIFE lounge isn’t crowded, which puts it at an edge above the Escape lounge at Stansted Airport. That being said, there’s certainly nothing to write home about, nor any reason to come early to the lounge.
SKYLIFE Lounge London Southend Access and Opening Hours
The SKYLIFE Lounge at Southend Airport is open from 4 AM to 8 PM daily, and accepts the following cardholders:
- All Priority Pass members (AmEx Gold Card holders get 4 free lounge passes, and subsequent visits cost £24)
- Dragon Pass, Diners Pass, Lounge Key and Lounge Club members are also welcome
- You can pay £37 to access the lounge, or £45 to do this, and get Fast Track Security and a reserved table
- You can guarantee yourself entry for £7 (I really wouldn’t do this)
SKYLIFE Lounge London Southend Location
The SKYLIFE Lounge at London Southend Airport is located airside, just after security. Upon arriving Southend Airport, I quickly cleared security, which took around 10 minutes.
SKYLIFE Lounge Southend Signage Landside
After clearing security, there’s an escalator heading down to the gates, and you’ll also see a free-for-all piano there.
Southend Airport Airside Area
Don’t go down the escalators if you’re trying to find the lounge – rather, head straight past them, where you’ll see the SKYLIFE Lounge entrance.
SKYLIFE Lounge Southend Entrance
I waited at the lounge entrance for a while before a staff member spotted me, and my Priority Pass card was quickly read. After this, I was admitted entry into the lounge, and even offered a welcome drink and canape on my way in (the champagne was drinkable, though didn’t feel like Taittinger as the ice bucket suggested, unless it had been sitting out for a while).
SKYLIFE Lounge Southend Entrance and Welcome Drink
SKYLIFE Lounge London Southend Seating and Atmosphere
The SKYLIFE Lounge consists of two rooms that have minimal natural light (all the windows are fully frosted). One of the rooms was barricaded off, leaving the other room – capacity was no issue ahead of my 5 PM flight.
SKYLIFE Lounge Southend Interior
Closer to the entrance was a lounging area. The orange and blue colour tones were a bit drab for me, though between the sofas and large chairs, I’d say that the seating was comfortable. This is a good space if you’re just grabbing a coffee or a drink.
SKYLIFE Lounge Southend Lounging Area
There’s also an alcove which features further armchairs, as well as a round table.
SKYLIFE Lounge Southend Lounging Area
Then on the far side of the lounge was a restaurant area, which featured a few square tables for 2-4 people.
SKYLIFE Lounge Southend Dining Area
On the side of this area was a workstation of sorts (where I perched myself), featuring the best access to power ports, as well as the lounge’s classic London Southend Airport memorial plaque. This sign was commissioned by the Royal Air Force in 1940 to commemorate Flying Officer John Lawrence, who died serving on a reserve squadron during the Battle of Britain in 1940.
SKYLIFE Lounge Southend Working Area
As I mentioned there was a separate room to the lounge. This area featured exclusively black armchairs, and was cordoned off during my stay at the lounge (though one person decided to sit there at some point, and wasn’t stopped).
SKYLIFE Lounge Southend Barricaded Off Area
The seating area at this lounge really is nothing special, though the fact that it isn’t crowded gives it a competitive advantage over Stansted (where the Escape lounge is perpetually full to the brim).
SKYLIFE Lounge London Southend Food and Beverages
The SKYLIFE Lounge at Southend Airport has a limited food spread. There’s a breakfast and lunch menu, and my stay coincided with the lunch menu.
Cold options include penne pasta, a salad bar, a cheese board, and some bar snacks, as well as Eton mess, pistachio and carrot cake, and some breakfast-style pastries.
SKYLIFE Lounge Southend Food Spread
Hot options included sweet potato and chickpea curry, chicken breast in mushroom and white wine sauce, and some potato slices.
SKYLIFE Lounge Southend Food Spread Hot Options
In terms of “made to order” options (I guess?) there was a pancake maker, which would inject pancake batter upon the press of a button, cook it on a conveyor belt, and output it in a heated tray.
SKYLIFE Lounge Southend Pancake Machine
The pancakes themselves weren’t terrible, and there was a large selection of toppings to eat it with (I went for Nutella and golden syrup). I’d have appreciated if there was more fresh fruit available, or if the Nutella and golden syrup came out of pump bottles.
SKYLIFE Lounge Southend Pancakes
The lounge features a bar, though you’re capped at three alcoholic drinks (I’m not sure if this includes 0% alcohol alternatives). It’s mostly left unmanned, and if you want to be served, you need to ring a bell – this bell will notify the whole lounge that you’re seeking an alcoholic beverage.
SKYLIFE Lounge Southend Bar
To be fair, there’s a good selection of spirits and mixers. None of the wines retail for more than £11 (HK$116), and most of the wines are catered by Il Molo.
SKYLIFE Lounge Southend Menu
I just had a Heineken 0.0% as I wanted to finish up some work, and later in the day I had an Archer’s Peach Schnapps and tonic.
SKYLIFE Lounge Southend Heineken Beer
To be honest this food spread is on the poor side, though I don’t imagine many will come to this lounge particularly hungry.
SKYLIFE Lounge London Southend Facilities
The SKYLIFE Lounge at Southend doesn’t otherwise feature any amenities – there are no showers. There are bathrooms within the lounge, though.
The SKYLIFE lounge doesn’t feature it’s own WiFi network, but rather it shares WiFi with the Southend terminal. Unfortunately I forgot to do a speed test at the lounge, though I found the WiFi to be usable, though not high-speed.
SKYLIFE Lounge London Southend Service
Everyone I interacted with at the lounge was extremely friendly. Now, I find staffing to be a bit odd at the lounge – everyone mostly stays in the kitchen, and only comes out to interact when a bell is pressed, or occasionally to clear plates. However, this meant that people were all served promptly and nobody was stood by the bar just waiting for people to order drinks, and apart from the occasional bell ring, I thought it worked like clockwork.
Conclusion: SKYLIFE Lounge London Southend
The SKYLIFE Lounge at Southend Airport is really nothing special – in fact, it’s quite bare bones, with mediocre-at-best food and beverage options. However, I found this to be a pleasant and quiet place to sit and get some work done, which is more than what I can say about most of the Priority Pass lounges in London. People don’t really book out of Southend Airport because of a Priority Pass lounge, though if you do find yourself flying out of Southend, have a Priority Pass membership and need to get some work done, this space isn’t too bad.
