EZY to reopen the SEN Southend Base with 3 x based A320 from 1 May 2025 - via SeanM on X

Here's hoping for SOU then....

Does it increase or decrease the chances of a SOU base - probably increases in the long term as it shows that EZY are interested in the model (small base, restricted runway, near London) but in the short term does it divert resources away - are they likely to want to take on two new bases so close together? More likely to follow the SEN/BHX model of a build up of away flying over a number of years.

Note also that SEN can offer destinations not available from SOU - so SOU would need to be able to provide returns on a greater number of shorter flights.

Having been to both, Southend and Southampton are not close together and serve different catchment areas.

There will be no easyJet base at SOU for Summer 2025. However, the opening of the SEN base is likely to allow some of the current away-based flying to be taken over by the based aircraft alongside the new routes just announced. It's quite possible that SOU will receive some more away-based flying, but then again, it was supposed to have more this summer until a couple of ALC slots earmarked for SOU were moved to BHD and PMI slots shifted to NCL. So no base - might get some more away-based flying for S25 - but also might not.

I would be surprised if MAN isn’t added by S25

SEN big game changer for Easy is its opening hours ,hence based aircraft 2025,
I'm sure if SOU had less restrictions on open hours Easy would have opened a base by 2025

Easy has lost slots at Gatwick, not sure if it is this year or next but a shift to Essex was a logical step.

Opening hours is a balance between the locals being upset and who suffer and the demands of the airport that cares little about them.

What is the history of tightly restricted opening hours at Southampton. They were fine when it was largely an airport serving domestic travel and second homers but are really holding it back now. Any chance of allowing just a few later arrivals as that would be a game changer. The short final runway 07 at LTN foe example is quite densely populated.

Wasn't it part of the planning permission agreement to get the extension?

here’s the current agreement, the legal basis on which local councils and airports operate for civil aviation taking into account local circumstances:

https://www.southamptonairport.com/m...inal-clean.pdf

Highly likely that SOU will get additional routes and frequency from away based flying in 2025 to:

Amsterdam
Paris
Malaga
Alicante
Faro
Palma

There is a massive difference as the Council in Luton owns their airport and has zero interest in noise and disturbance while the Council for Southampton doesn’t and instead takes into account residents concerns.

I see the same poster has tried to derail the thread again around opening hours so I will post this great post once again:


Originally Posted by Severn
Most easyJet Europe bases are at airports with restrictive operating hours. If they make bases work at these airports with time restrictions, so why not at SOU?
Below is a list of the EJU bases and shows the time that the last EJU based aircraft lands.

ORY - last based EJU flight lands at 22:30
NTE - last based EJU flight lands at 22:30
AMS - last based EJU flight lands at 22:35
BCN - last based EJU flight lands at 22:50
NCE - last based EJU flight lands at 22:55
NAP - last based EJU flight lands at 22:55
BER - last based EJU flight lands at 22:55
LYS - last based EJU flight lands at 23:05
BOD - last based EJU flight lands at 23:05
OPO - last based EJU flight lands at 23:05
BSL - last based EJU flight lands at 23:05
GVA - last based EJU flight lands at 23:10
CDG - last based EJU flight lands at 23:25

Southampton Airport doesn't actually fall within the Southampton City Council boundary, it's situated just over the border in Eastleigh Borough Council's patch.

I also think it's worth mentioning that Southend Airport is a long way from Southampton, 129 miles according to AA Route Finder, and in perfect traffic conditions it takes approximately two and a half hours, so make that three in the real world. Exeter, Bournemouth, Bristol, Birmingham, Luton, Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick are all closer to Southampton than Southend is!

You have to say it’s a positive sign as it shows that Easy are having to get their growth from outside the big London airports again. Naturally, this suggests SOU could be next. Personally I think SOU should take preference over SEN as it has far more potential. Looking at a map SEN has water nearly all the way around it, certainly more than SOU and STN is just up the road. Let’s not forget that SEN has never really had domestic routes whereas SOU still has a big need for those which adds another dynamic. I’m obviously bias though.

Yep, I'm biased too, but Southampton does have what on paper looks to be a good case for EZY expansion, being in the centre of the UK's 7th largest metropolitan area and being twice as far from London as Southend is. One would think that it would be a prime region to cover, but I guess at the moment the numbers don't quite add up yet?

The major urban areas of the UK are:
1 London
2. Manchester
3. Birmingham
4. Leeds
5. Glasgow
6. Liverpool
7. Southampton
8. Newcastle
9. Nottingham
10. Sheffield
11. Bristol

https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/cities/ua/

Maybe new routes next year and a base in the next year or two perhaps?

But look at the location of those airports and their primary destinations. The issue is how many sectors can you get into the restricted opening period. Probably less of an issue for SOU as it is so far south (so shorter distance to the likely major destinations), and in a way the range restrictions help as you're not trying to fit in Turkey or Egypt plus a.n.other into the restricted opening hours,

Good job SOU isn't near any major airports :ok:

A fair observation in principle but the only real challenge I see with this is that most of those airports are all quite central on the continent and typically have a much broader spread in route sector lengths, therefore there's more flex to maximise aircraft usage within the operating hours.

In the UK, the types of routes that would realistically operate are a few short hops to BFS/AMS, but the majority are 2.5hrs plus to the Med. In that case, by the time you've done say SOU-ALC-SOU-PMI-SOU it's probably still quite early evening yet there's probably not enough time left to fly any other viable route, whereas from less restricted airports in the UK they'd probably get a third rotation in.

I'm not saying a future base isn't a possibility but this is a general reality which any airline will need to evaluate very closely and will need the right mix of routes to make work effectively.

The A320NEO is a perfect fit for SOU and the runway performance should not be limited for it unlike the A320. If easyJet can make Las Palmas and Turkey work from SEN then they should be able to make that work from SOU. Only issue is obstacle clearance.

That way a typical day would look like SOU-PMI-SOU-LPA-SOU which provides better utilisation and should keep it within operating hours

Which would seem, superficially, a fairly big obstacle 😵‍💫