Biggest Christmas getaway for over five years at London Southend Airport
Move over Santa’s workshop! London Southend Airport is officially the busiest place in Essex this Christmas.
Hard-working airport elves are getting ready for a festive travel boom, with bosses expecting a record-breaking 300% passenger increase compared to last year, making it the biggest Christmas getaway period since 2019.
Already crowned as the UK’s fastest-growing airport, London Southend is set to welcome thousands of holiday-goers swapping wrapping paper for boarding passes this December, as demand for a festive escape goes through the roof – or should that be chimney? The seasonal rush has been boosted by six recently launched routes to Barcelona, Berlin, Grenoble, Lanzarote, Salzburg, and Santa’s hometown, Rovaniemi.
Business Development Director Nigel Mayes thinks the airport is preparing for a Christmas like no other.
He said: “We fully expect this to be our busiest festive season since 2019. Whatever you want to do over these holidays – we’ve got it covered – be it a bit of winter sun in one of our three Canaries destinations, taking to the ski slopes, shopping til you drop at Berlin’s Christmas market, meeting Santa in Lapland, golf in Antalya or Faro or a last-minute Christmas city break gift to Barcelona or Marrakech.”
You don’t need to travel far to escape it all this Christmas. Choose to fly easy, speedy, friendly and start your holiday at London Southend Airport.
London Southend Airport’s Top 10 destinations this Christmas:
- Amsterdam
- Geneva
- Paris
- Alicante
- Lanzarote
- Gran Canaria
- Palma
- Malaga
- Tenerife
- Malta
Christmas travel top tips at London Southend Airport
Even though we are your Easy. Speedy. Friendly. airport, we will be busier than usual, so leave plenty of time for your journey.
If you’re travelling with gifts, we recommend avoiding gift-wrapping, as our security team may need to unwrap items during screening.
Christmas food items such as cake, pudding and mince pies ideally should be in labelled original sealed packaging.
While replica toy guns or weapons might be on some Christmas lists, they cannot be taken through airport security in either hand or hold luggage.
Party poppers cannot be carried in cabin or hold baggage. Crackers may be permitted in hold luggage only, so please check your airline’s conditions of carriage before travelling.
About London Southend Airport
London Southend Airport is the UK’s fastest-growing airport, with a 133% increase in flights compared to summer 2024. Our dedicated on-site train station ensures seamless connectivity, with a 10-minute train-to-gate time and direct services from Stratford, London in 43 minutes and London Liverpool Street in just 52 minutes. Renowned for sensational customer experience, we manage all key operations in-house, delivering an easy, speedy, friendly journey from arrival to departure. easyJet passengers rank us among the UK’s top airports for satisfaction and our own private London Southend Jet Centre is the fastest-growing in the country.