Downward spiral
The downward spiral began when Stobart gave easyJet a 10 year sweetheart deal to entice them to the airport. It was daft as no other airline wants to go head to head with the orange mob. Stobart spent £10m in the past 12 months on incentives to bring airlines to the airport. And all they got was Air Malta. Really??? Management state that they want to exploit the capacity restraints at London airports yet other London airports grew passenger footfall by 6m. And Southend pays £10m to get a few thousand pax to fly to and from Malta. The end of the easyJet deal cannot come soon enough. Once their free ride is over easyJet will return to Stansted and the airport can attract all those airlines that are currently scared away. If anyone doubts me about the free deal easyJet enjoy just look at the results. 1m pax and still not making money!