Southend Airport

If friendly staff and clean toilets are all-important to you, you might want to consider trying London Southend Airport. The 2017 Which? Airport Passenger Survey ranked it as the best London terminal for the fifth year in a row. It's not necessarily the first London airport most passengers would think of, but it's growing in popularity and is proud of its record of customer satisfaction.

It scored 84 percent overall, including top marks for staff friendliness and helpfulness. It was also rated particularly well for baggage reclaim, seating, toilets, queues at security and passport control.

 

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Southend Airport

Southend Airport

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London Southend Airport

London Southend Airport

                        

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Southend Airport, as it's still known by many, used to be London's third-busiest airport behind Heathrow and Gatwick before it was overtaken in the late 1970s by Stansted.

Dating back to WWI, when it was first established as a Royal Flying Corps airfield, it began a development programme a decade ago. This has seen the opening of a new terminal, new easyJet services operating from there and a growth in passenger numbers to more than one million per year. The airport's owners aim to increase annual numbers further to two million by 2020.


The airport has its very own Premier Inn hotel and is well served by trains, with the purpose-built Southend Airport Railway Station within easy walking distance from the terminal. This is on the line to London's Liverpool Street station and its stops offer connections to the Jubilee Line, London Overground and Docklands Light Railway. All of this means passengers can expect to be in central London just as quickly after landing as they would from other airports, such as Luton, Stansted and Gatwick.

If you've never been to Southend Airport and feel it seems familiar, that's not surprising. One of its claims to fame was that it featured in the 1964 Bond film Goldfinger. James Bond, played by Sean Connery, is seen driving his Aston Martin into the airport, where he's tracked Goldfinger’s Rolls Royce, before transporting the car to Geneva. The airport also features in the 2001 Ricky Tomlinson movie Mike Bassett: England Manager, when the team are welcomed home from Brazil after reaching the World Cup semi-finals.


For more information on transfers to or from Southend Airport, visit our page on Getting Around Southend.

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