Southend airport bosses are talking to airlines about offering peak time take off and landings as an alternative to capacity-squeezed London airports
Parent company Stobart Group aims to grow passengers using the Essex airport to 2.5 million by 2018, up from 900,000 in the year to February 29.
In an annual meeting statement today, Stobart said like-for-like passenger numbers and load factors in the three months to May 31 were “broadly in line” with the same period last year.
On-time performance continues to outperform airline targets and revenue per passenger increased, the company added.
“London Southend airport’s management team have advanced talks with a number of low-cost carriers and full service operators, who want to take advantage of the airport’s access to London capacity at peak times, to deliver this growth,” Stobart said.
Regional carrier Stobart Air carried 353,000 passengers in the three months to the end of May, an increase of nearly 17%.
The company said it was considering opportunities with the airline to develop sustainable routes to and from Southend airport.