4 December 2023
Guide dog familiarisation visit. 6 guide dog puppies and their handlers were given a tour of the airport and escorted onto the apron to see the fire tenders.
Feedback from Jo Thorne: “Thank you so much for having us on Monday. The whole day was such a great experience for the puppies. As always the staff were incredible helping with wheelchair exposure and even having the fire service involved thank you to all of you.
It’s such a valuable learning experience for puppies to experience new environments that they may encounter in their life as a guide dog, giving them the chance to develop familiarity with unique situations. As many of our guide dog owners will fly with their guide dogs in their lifetime, it’s a huge advantage for puppies to have experienced this early on. The team at Southend were wonderful and welcoming, providing us with a safe way to help our puppies experience an airport for the first time”.
6 November 2023
Disposable adult changing mats provided in disabled toilets – as requested by PRM Committee
31 October 2023
PRM Committee meeting held at the end of the summer flight schedule.
- Representatives from the following groups are invited to tour the airport facilities and provide helpful feedback on how improvements could be made.
- Blind/impaired sight
- Hearing loss
- Age Concern
- Dementia
- Early on-set dementia
- Autism
- Autism/ADHD in children
- Anxiety
- Mental Health
- Guide Dogs
- Essex Therapy Dogs
- Sunflower – Hidden Disabilities
- Wheelchair users
- Airport Consultative Committee
25 October 2023
CAA Passenger Survey results
- 90% of departing passengers rated LSA at excellent for the quality of assistance provided from arrival to the airport to boarding the aircraft.
- 90% of departing passengers rated LSA excellent for the general helpfulness and curtesy of airport staff in meeting assistance needs.
- 90% of arriving passengers rated LSA excellent for the quality of assistance provided from the arrival gate, through immigration and baggage collection, and out of the airport building.
- 90% of arriving passengers rated LSA excellent for the general helpfulness and curtesy of airport staff in meeting assistance needs.
Full survey results can be found here for arrivals and departures
September 2023
Shelves fitted to disabled toilets to assist passengers changing colostomy bags. Sanitary bins provided in disabled and male toilets for disposal of colostomy bags – as requested by the PRM Committee.
01 September 2023
The airport purchased a ProMove Sling. The ProMove sling allows the safe, comfortable, and dignified transfer of a person with reduced mobility from the wheelchair to another seat or from any point to the next.
19 July 2023
Guide Dog familiarisation visit. Five puppies and their handlers were provided a tour of the airport, including check-in, departures, and arrivals. The puppies were invited to walk past wheelchairs, use the lifts, and enter disabled toilets to experience all the various sights and sounds of an airport environment.
Feedback from Jo Thorne “Thank you so much for having the Guide Dog puppies visit yesterday and on 5th July. “Please can you pass on our thanks to all the staff involved as we were made incredibly welcome by everyone at the airport. It is such a great learning experience for the pups to come and visit. We managed to cover lots of things required in their training such as steps, lifts, and different floor surfaces.
It was a great experience for them to have wheelchairs and suitcase trolleys passing by slowly but and at a distance. This is great to get pups used to them without fearing the wheels and noise. I have had nothing but compliments from the Puppy Raisers involved on the staff and feeling so welcomed at the airport so thank you so much to you for organising and all the staff who helped us”.
11 July 2023
LSA completed the CAA consultation on performance framework for airline accessibility .
05 July 2023
Guide Dog familiarisation visit. Six puppies and their handlers were provided a tour of the airport, including check-in, departures, and arrivals. The puppies were invited to walk past wheelchairs, use the lifts, and enter disabled toilets to experience all the various sights and sounds of an airport environment.
15 June 2023
LSA welcomed the CAA consumer policy and enforcement advisor to do a full site review after our successful summer restart , a very positive visit .
1 April 2023
Full internal PRM with hidden disabilities training completed with 105 colleagues and welcome our new team of customer ambassador advisers that will be on hand to assist and deliver great customer services to all our PRM visitors /. Passengers . Our CSA,s will be on hand to complete familiarisation to those requesting pre-visits prior to flying .
29 March 2023
PRM Committee meeting held in preparation for the return of schedule passenger services.
Representatives from the following groups are invited to tour the airport facilities and provide helpful feedback on how improvements could be made.
- Blind/impaired sight
- Hearing loss
- Age Concern
- Dementia
- Early on-set dementia
- Autism
- Autism/ADHD in children
- Anxiety
- Mental Health
- Guide Dogs
- Essex Therapy Dogs
- Sunflower – Hidden Disabilities
- Wheelchair users
- Airport Consultative Committee
21 March 2023
Familiarisation tour for 5-year-old with non-verbal autism. Harper and his grandmother were provided a tour of check-in and departures before being escorted to the ramp so Harper could get up close to a B737 on stand. Essex Therapy Dogs assisted with the tour and Bobby the West Highland Terrier accompanied Harper throughout his visit.
Harper’s Grandmother left the following feedback, “Thank you so much for the tour this morning. The care and friendliness of the staff was so heartwarming. Harper and me and mum soon became relaxed, and I believe he thoroughly enjoyed the experience”.
21 March 2023
Familiarisation tour for 14-year-old with non-verbal autism. Tommy and his mum and Grandfather were provided a tour of check-in and departures and arrivals area. Essex Therapy Dogs assisted with the tour and Bobby the West Highland Terrier accompanied Tommy throughout his visit.
Tommy’s Grandfather left the following feedback, “I’d just like to thank you so much, together with your colleagues, Bobby, and his family, for yesterday’s visit to Southend Airport. It was a wonderful experience for Tommy, my daughter and I, to have the opportunity to visit this great airport. If we are successful in getting Tommy to fly, I will let you know”.
March 2023
Essex Therapy Dogs return to the airport for the start of the summer schedule. London Southend Airport offers a weekly timetable of onsite therapy dogs. Known to reduce anxiety, therapy dogs can help even the most nervous of fliers regain their confidence. All of the therapy dogs are fully trained to bring comfort and reduce anxiety – particularly around nervous people, those experiencing stress, or those with hidden disabilities.
December 2022
London Southend Airport signed up to the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower scheme. The Sunflower lanyard was first launched in Gatwick airport in 2016 and has now been rolled out to all major UK airports. One of its founders, Ruth Rabet, attends the London Southend Airport Passengers with Reduced Mobility (PRM) Committee meetings. All airport staff are trained to identify and support people who are wearing a sunflower.
This was implemented for our summer restart programme 22nd March 2023
A CAA survey undertaken between 1 April 2022 to 30 November 2022 showed how arriving and departing PRM passengers rated their experience at London Southend
