London Southend Airport.
News from exhibitors and delegates attending Routes Europe 2024 in Aarhus, Denmark.
Summer Capacity Rises At London Southend
Seat capacity from London Southend Airport (SEN) is up by 77% during the summer 2024 season, compared with the same period last year, thanks to a significant uplift by number-one carrier easyJet.
EasyJet launched flights to Alicante, Spain, and Paris Charles de Gaulle last October and has continued to operate the routes during the summer months. Additionally, new charter flights to Burgas, Bulgaria, operated by Balkan Holidays and scheduled between June and September, further enhance the airport's summer offerings.
Speaking at Routes Europe 2024, Marc Watkins, SEN route development manager, said brand awareness remains a key challenge despite the airport’s available capacity and proximity to London. He added that with London's airports operating near full capacity this summer, SEN stands out as a viable option for airlines seeking to serve or expand their presence in the city.
In the short term, the airport aims to restore passenger throughput to pre-pandemic levels, targeting the milestone of 2 million passengers handled in 2019. The airport has capacity for about 3.5 million passengers.
U.S. private equity firm The Carlyle Group in March agreed to take a controlling stake in SEN following a recapitalization agreement with owner Esken, which has since entered administration.
More News And Analysis From Routes Europe 2024
Aalborg Seeks European Hub Links
After reporting a near 5% increase in passenger traffic during 2023, Aalborg Airport CEO Niels Kjær Hemmingsen says the Danish airport is focused on enhancing European hub connectivity and increasing geographical awareness of the city among international travelers.
“One of the largest opportunities that we see in AAL is the addition of new routes to important hub airports such as Frankfurt and Paris,” Hemmingsen said at Routes Europe 2024. “In the short term, our strategic ambition is to spread the knowledge of AAL and our catchment area and thereby increase the amount of international destinations and travelers.”
He added this includes both connections to hub airports and larger European cities that can support business traffic, leisure traffic and cargo demand. “We also hope to attract new direct routes to larger European cities, and we have a strong focus on connections to Norway, Sweden, Greenland and Iceland,” Hemmingsen said.
Despite challenges posed by a lack of airline capacity in the industry—caused by delivery delays or maintenance issues, which is pushing back decisions on potential new routes—several new services are commencing from AAL this summer. They include Norwegian’s flights to Nice, France, from June and Ryanair’s operations to Girona, Spain, which started on April 1.
Additionally, Air Greenland is reopening a weekly Kangerlussuaq-Copenhagen-Aalborg service in June, and Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is increasing capacity to Oslo, offering “a much-improved schedule,” according to Hemmingsen.
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