LTNman
I can't imagine why I didn't realise you meant the old terminal was just old fashioned; must have been something within "old wooden terminal" I guess.
While I totally agree with you that the pax numbers on WAT-SEN fell off a cliff compared with WAT-LTN I've never really been able to work out why there was such a decline. Same carrier and, presumably, same schedule and fares. Flight time slightly more but there must be something else, after all it was still a coach from both UK airports to the train station (5 minutes from SEN) and train times Rochford to Liverpool Street 50 minutes, 3 x hourly. Perhaps it was a UK catchment area problem. So what happened to all the lost traffic; would most of them really prefer to depart from DUB to LON? I've often pondered that mystery.
I was on the inaugural SEN departure and returned 5 days later. Many of the WAT-SEN pax seemed unsure how to get to London after arrival and one asked me how far the nearest Tube line was. Maybe the pre-launch marketing was poor.