We are due to fly out from Southend Airport at the end of May (we used to fly from Stansted before Easyjet discontinued their Faro service from there in April) and I wondered whether any Forum readers have used the airport and what they think of it. I have noticed that car parking will be more expensive as at the moment you cannot prebook and take advantage of a reduced rate, but I understand the long stay car park is within easy walking distance of the terminal. Any comments (well, constructive ones!) would be appreciated.

Sorry Mike....cant help you....I've only heard negative comments

I flew out from Southend last Saturday.

You don't need to pre-book parking but I think it's only £30 per week (£40 pw from July). All parking plus the station are immediately adjacent to the airport terminal building.

It's modern, clean and small but the time to clear all official channels is minutes not hours. If you want a large international airport then don't choose Southend but if you want a small regional airport with all the time and cost advantages that go with it then Southend fits the bill.

For me from the time I phoned for a taxi to pick me up from home to sitting at the boarding gate sipping a coffee was 40 mins max, and that included clearing customs and security and a visit to the coffee shop.

Ignore Bruce's comments - he has been opposed to Southend since it was announced and hasn't used it.

After making huge investment into Southend airport the owners are very aware that they need a competing edge so I am sure the new facilities they are offering is made to make the passengers want to use it again,

It's a gem of a little airport in a very friendly part of Essex, I am very pleased it will start to expand.

I think its great that more local airports are starting to get investment and expand their routes.

I always use Southsampton whenever I can - no fuss, no long queues and now a great restaurant and bar. Not so much in shops - just a few - but the benefits far outweigh any disadvantage. Admittedly flights can be more expensive than Gatwick or Heathrow but the savings on time, travel and parking far outweigh those costs. The train station is right outside the airport being a main stop on the Soutampton - Waterloo line and the flights to CVO are at a nice civilised time of 3:20pm arriving at Faro at just after 5:00pm abd 10:00am departing Faro.

When you land, it takes less than 15 minutes to get through passport control and the bags are usually on the carousel by then.

However, Easyjet, Ryanair et al do not fly from there so if you are a regular visitor to CVO (say more than 3 times a year) then the costs could become an issue.

So, use local when you can is what I say

Many thanks for the responses - these are really helpful, so it looks as though it could be a good experience. Does anyone have a view on the quickest route from North Norfolk to Southend, i.e. cross country or motorway? I know the motorway is longer in miles but I suppose it cuts out the hassle; we will be travelling in the middle of the night so will probably be on auto pilot! If anyone is wondering why we don't use Luton, we tried it once and the journey through more built up areas was horrendous and we almost missed the flight, so we thought it would be worth giving Southend a try.

Di

Depends where in North Norfolk.

If you are in the western part then M11, M25, A127 but if you are further over then I suggest A12 to Chelmsford, A130, A127.

Either way as you come along A127 into Southend boundary (40 mph) at the large Tesco roundabout (which is the first rounabout that you come to) the airport is signposted - the runway is behind Tescos.

Watch out for 50 mph average speed cameras on the A127 outside of Southend.

Farol wrote:Depends where in North Norfolk.

If you are in the western part then M11, M25, A127 but if you are further over then I suggest A12 to Chelmsford, A130, A127.

Either way as you come along A127 into Southend boundary (40 mph) turn left at the large Tesco roundabout (which is the first rounabout that you come to) and the airport is signposted - the runway is behind Tescos.

Watch out for 50 mph average speed cameras on the A127 outside of Southend.

OR....you can carry on down to Gatwick, or as we have done....reluctantly transfer your business to Ryanair.

Speaking as one who knows, the A12 route is awful, and the difference in travel time, off peak, between , say North Walsham and Southend or Gatwick, is marginal.

I am all for regional airports being expanded. It was great when Norwich airport did what Southend has done and attracted a budget airline to use it. In Norwichs case, flyBe. We also had Faro flights.

Like Southend, Norwich offered the airline a very attractive deal, but once the hub was up and running, tried to up the ante.
The result?? flyBe told Norwich to go to hell, and closed down the whole operation.

So there is a lesson there for Southend.

I have exchanged several e-mails with the Easyjet CEO, Carolyn McCall, who informs me that they will review the Faro/Stansted/Southend situation at the end of the year.
I am also given to understand that Easyjet are currently discounting fares in order to attract business to Southend.

I have attempted to suggest to Ms McCall that there is passenger capacity for a service from both airports.

In the meantime.....we bite the bullet and fly Ryanair.

Good luck (not that you need it) Mike and Di. and let us know how you got on.

I normally fly out from Luton; getting there from Central London is a straight run on the M1 - there in 45 mins.If in the unlikely event there were no flights to Faro from Luton or perhaps London City Airport, then I would definitely opt for Southend.

There are very good reviews on Southend Airport pre and post expansion so you won't go wrong.

Flew into Southend from Faro last night. Landed 20 mins early and cleared border control in next to no time as ours was the only flight at that time and there were 3 passport counters open.

The plane was full.

The deal that Easyjet has signed with Stobarts (who run and have invested so much money in Southend) is for 10 years so I doubt they will be leaving too quickly although obviously they may change routes.

Since taking over the airport Stobarts have built a new control tower, a new railway station, a new terminal building (with planning permission to triple its size already granted), new car parking, a new hotel (to be a full Holiday Inn), extended runway and got contracts with Aer Arran, Aer Lingus and Easyjet. A deal with Monarch is rumoured. Failure is not an option to Stobarts.

Backing up Easyjets committment is the fact that Easyjet is this year's sponsor of the Southend Airshow.

Routes from Southend are to Alicante, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Belfast, Dublin (with onward flights to Boston USA but with US immigration & customs clearance at Dublin so you are treated as a domestic arrival in USA), Faro, Geneva, Ibiza, Jersey, Malaga, Palma Mallorca, Venice & Waterford.

Before anybody asks no I don't have any connection with Southend airport other than living in Essex. As such I could choose between Stansted, Southend, London City and that hell hole called Gatwick. I have tried all four and for me Southend is great as a frequent flyer. I never understand anybody that dismisses something before they have even tried it. Sure Southend Airport isn't perfect but who could claim that Stansted or Gatwick are?

If you live in south Essex, or the east side of London it'll be great, and I'm pleased for you.

Many many more who dont have that benefit, have become disadvantaged. End of!!

Bruce Wallis wrote:If you live in south Essex, or the east side of London it'll be great, and I'm pleased for you.

Many many more who dont have that benefit, have become disadvantaged. End of!!

I thought living in South Essex meant you were disadvantaged.

RichardHenshall wrote:

Bruce Wallis wrote:If you live in south Essex, or the east side of London it'll be great, and I'm pleased for you.

Many many more who dont have that benefit, have become disadvantaged. End of!!

I thought living in South Essex meant you were disadvantaged.

What? You think they got the new airport as compensation.........lateral thinking. I like that!!!

Thanks everyone for your comments and advice - all very helpful (and some quite funny!). We're certainly looking forward to the advantages of using a smaller airport, which will hopefully compensate for the longer drive time to get there. Only two weeks to go now before we leave for Carvoeiro - can't wait.

Di

[quote="Farol"

Routes from Southend are to Alicante, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Belfast, Dublin (with onward flights to Boston USA but with US immigration & customs clearance at Dublin so you are treated as a domestic arrival in USA), Faro, Geneva, Ibiza, Jersey, Malaga, Palma Mallorca, Venice & Waterford.

At first glance this might not appear to offer any advantage to clearing immigration in mainland USA, but apparantely its much more pleasant than clearing immigration in the USA itself.

I am lucky in that I have 2 major airports roughly easily accessible from my home, Dublin and Belfast. Scheduled flights to Faro: Ryanair and Aer Lingus, Belfast: Easyjet and from April to Sept Aer Lingus. So far so good but on my last flight to Faro from Belfast there was 119 empty seats on an Aer Lingus A319. Aer Lingus have 2 rows less than Easyjet on the same aircraft so total of 144 seats, with just 25 passengers. Bad news for the likes of me because with load factors like this there is no way they will continue on the route. Aer Lingus pulled their Gatwick- Faro service because of poor loads, so as HR advocates, where reasonable support local. (for what its worth the Aer Lingus fare to Faro for 2 adutls one way as just £83 in total, so they were not exactly pricing themselves out of the market)