A total of 970,167 passengers passed through the Essex airport between January and December 2013 - beating the previous record of 721,661 (set year to the end of February 2013). This sustained growth eclipses previous yearly averages of around 692,000 passengers back in the 1960s heyday of Southend, when it was the third busiest airport in the UK (second only to Heathrow and Manchester).