While no UK facility has been immune to the turbulence of the past 18 months, London Southend Airport has had it tougher than most. Simon Murdoch enjoyed an exclusive tour of the site as the English gateway prepares to reopen its doors to scheduled operations
London Southend Airport (LSA) is celebrating one of its first scheduled passenger services of the year. In normal times this would barely register as a footnote in early January. However, these remain anything but normal times for commercial aviation. Astonishingly, one of the maiden sorties of 2021 took off in May, with the Essex facility hoping that the second half of the year brings better fortunes.
Despite the challenges, the airport’s owner – Esken, formerly known as the Stobart Group – has raised £140 million to fund major investments in the site. While some of these are longer-term projects, others are already in place to boost passenger confidence in air travel.