Meet The Winners: London Southend Airport

London Southend Airport shared its recent route development successes and the significance of being named winner of the Under 5 Million Passengers category at the Routes Awards in Seville.

Located in one of the world’s most competitive aviation markets, London Southend Airport (SEN) has shown strong resilience following the pandemic. Passenger traffic grew by 250% in 2024, reaching 288,000 travelers compared to 82,000 in 2023, fueled by a personal approach to airline partnerships and creative marketing campaigns.

A key milestone was winning back three based aircraft with easyJet, boosting projected passenger numbers to 750,000. EasyJet will operate 20 destinations from SEN during the summer 2025 schedule, with additional services to Barcelona and Lanzarote in Spain and Salzburg, Austria, planned for winter.

With the capacity to serve more than 3 million passengers annually, SEN is targeting additional beach and city break destinations, while also highlighting opportunities for regional airlines.

“There are so many markets and cities that want access to London all within a 700-km (434-mi.) range of this airport," said Nigel Mayes, business development director at SEN. "We want to access those markets and a regional carrier with a based aircraft would be perfect to serve these."

SEN’s approach to route development and airline partnerships contributed to the airport being named the winner of the Under 5 Million Passenger category during the Routes Awards at Routes Europe 2025 in Seville.

“It means an enormous amount for the team here at London Southend Airport,” Mayes said. “We work really hard with our airline partners and we’re very creative with what we do. I’m hoping that the award is recognition on how we work with our airlines and the way we want to keep our cost base low for our carriers.”

SEN also exhibited at Routes Europe 2025 to highlight its unique market position. "We got to have over 40 airline meetings in the three days," Mayes said. "It was a great opportunity to take those conversations further and we also had a great stand with creative imagery of a superhero theme.”