Originally Posted by
Barling Magna
In 1967 692,686 passengers used Southend. In the same year 412,938 used Luton, 13,629 used Stansted, 1,954,272 used Gatwick and 12,433,542 used Heathrow. Outside London only Manchester, Glasgow and Belfast exceeded Sothend's passenger total in 1967 making Southend the UK's sixth busiest airport.
I recall as a boy reading the Eagle magazine at that time. I clearly remember a reader's letter from an ambitious young chap called Glyn Jones who boldly predicted a bright future for Southend Airport, with passenger numbers rising to 2.5 million by 1970.