They PRESUMED that SEN's terminal would remain open all night, they made no effort whatsoever to pre-book, online, a budget hotel or B&B before arriving
There are a few here that are completely missing the point. No one is going to fly into Southend to save a few pounds only to spend more than the saving made by using SEN to then have to book into even a cheap hotel. A better option would be to have spent a few pounds more on the ticket flying into a 24 hour airport.
It is clear that Southend's passenger figures have benefited from passengers being somewhat ignorant of the facts regarding Southend and which Southend Airport's website seems to perpetuate by not proving clear and precise information.
Info from their own website. Getting to and from the airport
Driving
Carriageway Resurfacing works - Overnight Road Closures 7.30pm to 7am from Monday 6th - Thursday 9th February.
No mention about the terminal actually being closed overnight
Rail
Ticket Office Opening Hours: Monday - Sunday (including bank holidays): 06:00 - 23:00
At peak up to 8 trains an hour run from Southend Airport Station to Central London
Journey time from London Liverpool Street Station 53 minutes
Journey time from Stratford Station 44 minutes
No mention that the railway is actually closed overnight so passengers won't be able to buy tickets from the conductor.
Andrews Airport Cars are a premium and trusted Taxi service, available 24 hours a day.
No mention that while the taxi service is 24 hour the terminal isn't.
It is reasonable for airports to close overnight when flights end in the early evening but it seems somewhat harsh that with flights arriving close to midnight carrying many foreign nationals who will be relying on non existent public transport that the airport has a zero tolerance to them at the stroke of midnight.
Easyjet should make it clear when booking early morning and late night arriving flights at SEN that there is no public transport options and the airport is closed between midnight and 4 am.
The airport website should also prominently inform passengers of the same thing. If they had both did this then these passengers would have nothing to complain about but I suspect the airport would have been down a few extra passengers this year as they would have gone elsewhere.