mikkie - are Sovereign and Citalia just packaging an easyjet flight to Palma / Faro / Venice with their own stock of accommodation and calling it a family holiday, or is it something more than that ?
Both Citalia and Sovereign are owned by TUI Group, so apart from the branding (compared to 'Thomson', Citalia sounds so much better at flogging flights + 7 nights in a B&B in Italy), it's not much different to booking with a branch of Thomson on the High Street.
If Thomas Cook are prepared to put 80,000 customers on Easyjet flights in 2013, why not other agents ? No magic about Southend - it's just an Easyjet flight and for system purposes is no different from Bristol or Glasgow