Ryanair announced it will open a new base at London Southend, from April 2019, with 3 based aircraft (an investment of $300m) and 13 new routes to 8 countries, including Alicante, Barcelona Reus, Bilbao, Brest, Corfu, Cluj, Dublin, Faro, Kosice, Malaga, Milan Bergamo, Palma and Venice, which will deliver 1m guests annually at London Southend Airport.

Ryanair is Europe’s favourite airline, operating more than 1,600 daily flights from 72 bases, connecting 189 destinations in 30 countries and operating a fleet of more than 300 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Ryanair has recently announced firm orders for a further 280 new Boeing 737 aircraft, as well as options for 100 more Boeing 737 MAX 200s, which will enable Ryanair to lower fares and grow traffic from 90m this year to over 150m p.a. in 2024. Ryanair currently has a team of more than 9,500 highly skilled aviation professionals and has an industry leading 30-year safety record.

Ryanair’s new S2019 London Southend base will deliver:

– 3 based aircraft ($300m investment)
– 13 new routes: Alicante (5 wkly), Barcelona Reus (2 wkly), Bilbao (4 wkly), Brest (2 wkly), Corfu (2 wkly), Cluj (3 wkly), Dublin (2 daily), Faro (5 wkly), Kosice (3 wkly),    

Malaga (5 wkly), Milan Bergamo (4 wkly), Palma (4 wkly) & Venice (4 wkly)

– Over 55 weekly flights
– 1 million guests p.a.
– 750 “on-site” jobs p.a.

Southend consumers and visitors can now book their holidays for Summer 2019, on even lower fares, and enjoy Ryanair’s “Always Getting Better” improvements including:

– Reduced checked-in bag fee (€25) but bigger bag (20kg) allowance
– Ryanair Rooms with 10% off Travel Credit
– Ryanair Transfers – wider choice of ground transport with new partner Car Trawler
– Price Promise – find a cheaper fare & Ryanair will refund the difference +€5 to your My Ryanair account

Ryanair’s Chief Commercial Officer, David O’Brien said:

“We are pleased to add London Southend Airport to our UK based network.  Ryanair guests travelling to and from London and the Essex area can now enjoy low fares on a choice of 13 routes through London Southend’s exceptionally passenger-friendly terminal.

Southend Airport’s train station will deliver direct services from the terminal to London Liverpool St and also the new Crossrail service (opening in 2019), making the airport even more accessible from all parts of London.

To celebrate we are releasing seats for sale on these new routes from £24.99 for travel in April and May 2019.  This offer is available for booking until midnight on Friday (15 June). Since these amazing low fares will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.”

Warwick Brady, CEO of Stobart Group said:

“We are delighted to welcome Ryanair and its guests to London Southend in S2019. We have a clear and focused strategy to grow our airport to welcome over 5m passengers a year by 2022. This news will help us achieve that aim, and Ryanair will be a valuable partner to Stobart Group in developing London Southend airport with 13 routes and 6 new destinations, allowing us to play a key role in solving London’s capacity crisis. We look forward to delivering a great service to Ryanair guests to ensure we support the extraordinary growth of Ryanair operations out of London.”