Skipness One Echo
From previous postings elsewhere you seem to be fairly knowledgeable about LCY. Perhaps you can give an opinion as to why in the recent past both BA and Cityjet nominated SEN as number one weather diversion, seeing as "Southend is remote". I would suggest that those two airlines don't share that view.
I don't actually believe SEN is a natural choice for a NQY or PLH route, it being on the 'wrong' side of London. There's a natural aversion to overflying your ultimate destination by 40 miles and then getting on a train to travel those 40 miles back again. For traffic originating in Europe, however, that is a totally different matter and is, in my opinion, where much of SEN's future business will come from.