SEN has just posted on their f/bk page that "easyJet has announced it will base a fourth A320(sic) aircraft at the airport from 25th July 2018 .....".

Presumably there may be frequency increases on existing routes but also some new routes added in due course.

Good news! Hopefully, they'll reinstate a morning flight to Malaga, at least for part of the week. Having said that I think this Spain / Catalonia business is in danger of spiralling out of control and could have a huge impact next year on plans.

Could be a 320 neo facilitating some longer routes?

easyJet say this will add 130,000 extra passengers per annum. So where will the airport find the other 1,200,000 passengers to meet its 2018 target of 2.5m pax?

Good news but not the new based airline the airport needs to stem the operational losses.

I love the PR that's coming out SEN atm; top marks to them!!! :D

(Also, I highly doubt easyJet would ever plan to get out of bed for loads that were only 80% of whatever the actual loads were :rolleyes: But I guess "easyJet was able to charge SEN pax more than they expected to be able to get off with and wants more of that" doesn't have the same ring :) )

I know to the public it doesn't really matter but
A fourth A320 a/ c isn't exactly accurate as SEN has A319s based or has that changed?
Think it is unlikely to be a NEO but hopefully you will get a couple of new routes at least.
I am thinking maybe Lisbon!

Southend will not be getting a Neo for the foreseeable future. As the neo’s are delivered into Luton and Gatwick first off, this will facilitate other A320 ceo to move around the network.

And why is Captain Caveman so sure it won't be a neo? Is he in the know or just surmising? Not so long ago there was a little army of "SEN won't get a 4th aircraft" merchants who have now been proved wrong. Why are the doubters so adamant that good things just won't happen? I suggest people should wait and see before rubbishing every suggestion/thought.

If EZY were planning to but a NEO in, why not mention it today and use that to boost the PR? From a support point of view, it would make sense to concentrate the NEO's rather than disperse them around the network.

25 July seems a bit of an odd date, is it a full time fourth A/C?

EZY announced 8 th aircraft joining Liverpool base 27/7/18 so i guess Southend's 4 th aircraft joining 25/7 makes similar sense at the start of the main summer season

No plans for NEO at SEN, they will go to the bigger bases first so the line engineers can get skilled up.
I think the date is relevant when the 321NEOs start to arrive thus freeing up 320CEOs.

Anyone know what's happening to the ex RBS building near the airport ?

Neo will be at large bases to facilitate the training pilots, engineering and cabin crew trainers gaining authorisation to fly/maintain/serve in the new machine. This will facilitate in-house cascading of training downward.

It's not an 'ex' office as RBS are still there. I don't think there are plans to close it anytime soon, and its removal would probably have very limited implications for SEN's runway (05).

I would guess the extra aircraft at both Liverpool and Southend will be based for a period of a few weeks (school holidays) to add extra capacity for that period. Whether they continue for the rest of the summer season is open for debate.

I doubt that the aircraft will be an A320neo unless that type offers a considerable commercial advantage by virtue of enhanced field performance. I still haven't found any written evidence of that and Airbus no longer seem to be claiming better field performance for the variant.

Press Releases are always difficult to fathom as the context of statements is never clear. If they really said that the addition of an A320 will produce an "increase of 130,000 passengers to and from the airport ..." then that is four months of SEN utilisation of an A320, not just the school holiday period.

Continued speculation isn't really worth while beyond that but no doubt things will become clearer when any new routes are announced. I have heard Madrid mentioned by the way.

SEN Observer... because there are some people on pprune who actually know what they are talking about because it is part of their job to know.

neo or ceo, temporary or permanent. Surely this news cannot be regarded as anything other than positive for SEN. Over the last 12 months or so I've read here (I paraphrase) "Southend was a vanity project for EZY executive" Southend is the worst performing of the UK bases" EZY can't wait to get out" and frequently "Hell will freeze over before a fourth based aircraft comes along".

Clearly, easyjet don't share those views. There's no sentiment in their decision. It's not something they had to do.

CD3 Dave -it's good to see your positivity. Considering what has been achieved at Southend (and I am one of those Lutoners really) I am amazed how downbeat many are here. When I visited in a Cessna not that many years ago it as pretty moribund with 146s and a 707 lying around and very little commercial traffic. It is now a thriving local airport (sorry I don't really buy the London bit) with turboprop regional jet and main line low cost operators. It may not be making money yet - but it's there but an amazing transformation really compared with say Teeside, Humberside and Norwich which have changed little, and Cardiff and Doncaster/Sheffield which certainly don't make money and pay large inducements to retain fewer operators by and large.