After a terrific response to news that Essex holidaymakers will be able to jet off to Italy on a package holiday from London Southend Airport for the first time since the 1970’s, Newmarket Holidays believes this will be “the first of many.”

News of the first flight, on 17 June 2012, to Bergamo sparked an instant wave of interest and Newmarket is confident that London Southend will become a regular addition to their UK-wide range of regional departures.

London Southend Airport Managing Director Alastair Welch believes Newmarket’s thirty years in the business adds to customer confidence: “We are very pleased to be able to offer holidays with such experienced operators. It’s no surprise these trips are already proving very popular with local residents as they very much herald the long awaited return to Essex of hassle-free holidays from practically your own doorstep.”

Newmarket’s Regional Charter Director Alison Keeble says: “We are very excited about working with London Southend, and especially pleased that we can offer our most popular Italian holidays from the airport. The combination of these hugely successful holidays and the chance to fly from Southend’s refurbished airport are great news for local holidaymakers. I’m sure we’ll sell out in no time at all and that this will be the first of many flights in the future.”

Just seven months after announcing Southend to Galway flights, Aer Arann has unveiled plans to suspend services between the two airports for the winter season.

The last operational flights will be on Monday 31 October 2011, and passengers with bookings beyond this date will be contacted by the airline.

In a statement, Paul Schütz, Aer Arann’s Chief Executive apologised for the decision and said: “The reality however is that we are not yet a year out of examinership and we are not in a position to continue to operate routes that are not commercially viable.”

easyJet is to launch flights to Jersey from its newest base at Southend Airport.

Flights will operate four times per week (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays) from 2 May 2012.

Ali Gayward, easyJet Commercial Manager, said: “We are excited to announce our new route from Jersey to easyJet’s newest base, London Southend. It will open up an easy and affordable link to the capital for leisure and business passengers, while supporting tourism in Jersey.

“It is testament to the success of our existing routes from the island to Liverpool and Glasgow that we have made this addition of a direct service to London and are sure that it will be welcomed by local residents and visitors alike.”

Gama Aviation is preparing for the forthcoming 2012 Olympics and the anticipated increase in business aviation traffic with the recruitment of its own dedicated air traffic specialist.

Consultant Martin Hill brings 30 years’ experience as an air traffic controller and supervisor at the London Air Traffic Control centre to Gama. He is now in situ at the company’s Farnborough Airport HQ and is advising Gama’s operations and charter teams as they communicate to clients about their air travel to London coinciding with next year’s big event.

Gama’s Director of Client Relations Trevor Jones was participating as a panellist at BGAD 2011’s Practicalities of the Olympics Panel at Cambridge Airport on Tuesday, 20th September. “We are advising our customers and charter brokers to book their slots early in order to avoid disappointment. For international clients coming to London between 21 July and 15 August we urge them to contact us as soon as possible so we can make the slot applications accordingly. This is because there will be capacity constraints in the airspace over the London area, affecting a total of 40 airports in the South of the UK.”

Slots will be required for all flights arriving or departing the London area during the period from 21st July to 15th August 2012, inclusive – this covers the Olympic Games only, there are no extra slot restrictions for the Paralympic Games. Flights will also be subjected to security screening, even at small airports/airfields.

Martin Hill explains: “Slots will be issued on a first come, first served basis and where the requested slot time is not available, the closest match will be offered as an alternative. Airports will be charging a non-refundable fee for the booking of the slots, which will be added to the cost of the flight, and in some cases, requiring payment of landing and handling fees in advance.”

Gama is advising its clients and charter brokers that once a slot is issued, changing the time of the flight will invalidate that original slot. There will be no guarantee that a slot will be available for the revised time, on the day concerned. If the slot is not adhered to the flight will not be able to depart until a new slot time is granted, which could be many hours away.

The slot system is now operational to take bookings at Farnborough Airport, and will become active at other London area airports over the coming months.

The following airports, all subject to slot co-ordination, have confirmed their available capacity and effective September 5th it is possible to make a reservation at those highlighted in bold:

Slot co-ordinated airports during the period of the Olympics

• Biggin Hill
• Blackbushe
• Bournemouth*
• Cambridge
• Chalgrove
• Cranfield
• Damyns Hall
• Denham
• Dunsfold
• Elstree
• Fairoaks
• Farnborough
• Goodwood
• Lee-on-Solent
• Leicester
• Lydd
• Manston
• Northolt
• North Weald
• Old Sarum
• Oxford
• Peterborough
• Redhill
• Rochester
• Shoreham
• Southampton**
• Southend
• Stapleford
• Sywell
• Thruxton
• White Waltham
• Wycombe Air Park

The following airports are yet to confirm their capacity so slot bookings are not yet available:

• Birmingham*
• Coventry ***
• Duxford***
• London City**
• London Gatwick
• London Heathrow**
• London Luton*
• London Stansted*

* slot reservations available 30th November 2011

** slot reservations available 1st February 2012

*** slot reservations available as soon as capacity determined

Southend Airport’s railway station was officially opened yesterday, 21 September 2011, by Minister for Transport, Theresa Villiers MP.

The station, which is on the Southend Victoria to London Liverpool Street line, has been operational since July and offers up to eight services per hour to London, taking passengers from the airport into the City of London in just 53 minutes, or to Stratford – venue for the Olympics in 2012 – in 44 minutes.

Operated by the airport’s rail division, Stobart Rail, the station is fewer than 100 paces from the new terminal building (currently under construction), and is an integral part of the new terminal development, designed to maximise efficiency and ease of use for passengers. Part of the new terminal’s service standard is a commitment to no more than four minutes waiting time at security, and 15-minutes from ‘plane to train’ target for passengers carrying hand luggage only.

Andrew Tinkler said “The new railway station is a key part of our offering as a new airport for the region – whisking people into central London in under an hour, which is very competitive with the other airports around the capital. We are very proud of the new Stobart Rail-built station, and I’m personally delighted to see it officially opened today by such a senior figure in the Government’s Department for Transport. I hope Theresa Villiers MP, having experienced the service for herself today, will see the Stobart ethos – or obsession – with efficiency and logistics is very evident here.”

Tickets are now on sale for easyJet’s flights from Southend Airport.

The airline unveiled its summer schedule recently and now offers flights from Southend to the following eight destinations:

• Amsterdam
• Alicante
• Barcelona
• Belfast
• Faro
• Ibiza
• Malaga
• Mallorca.

easyJet’s summer schedule operates from 25 March 2012 to 2 September 2012.

London Southend Airport has selected Searcys to manage the catering provision in the regenerated airport’s new terminal.

Searcys is one of the UK’s most respected catering businesses. As well as being known for its Champagne bars, it also boasts the iconic Gherkin building, the Commonwealth Club, the National Portrait Gallery and St Pancras Grand Restaurant & Champagne Bar amongst its catering venues.

Searcys will operate two outlets in the new airport terminal building – one ‘airside’ in the Departure Lounge and another ‘landside’ next to Arrivals. These will include ‘Grab and Go’ sections, plus hot and cold food, soft drinks and alcohol. 80% of the food ingredients used will be sourced from within a 25-mile radius in order to ensure freshness, but also to support local producers.

The fit out of both outlets with begin later this year, ready for the terminal opening in early 2012.

London Southend Airport Managing Director Alastair Welch says “We want our catering to stand out, differentiating Southend from other airports. It is essential that we provide the very highest standards of quality and service for our passengers in the new terminal, and we know that Searcys will deliver that. Searcys is a very special organisation, known for exceptional service with knowledgeable staff and we are delighted to be working with them.”

Searcys CEO Doug Tetley says “London Southend Airport is really looking to put itself on the map with some premium facilities and it is another huge vote of confidence that Searcys has been selected.”

Southend Airport will benefit from a new destination being offered by Jetisfaction during the Winter season.

The airline will operate a daily service for the Munster Osnabruck route, in North Germany out of the UK airport from 31st October, running seven days a week.

Tickets are now on sale online, starting from £44 each way, plus taxes.

A new road to Southend Airport will open to the public on 1 September 2011.

Linking Eastwoodbury Lane and Nestuda Way, the access has been constructed to facilitate the stopping-up of a section of Eastwoodbury Lane and the extension of London Southend Airport’s existing runway.

At a cost of more than £5 million, the new road which diverts the course of Eastwoodbury Lane has been constructed by the airport operator’s sister company Stobart Rail. Work started in February 2011 and has just been completed on schedule.

The new route was carefully chosen and designed to minimise impact on St Laurence Park. A new children’s play area has been constructed – including £800k of state-of-the-art play equipment – and a new wildflower meadow has been installed. The park is now over a hectare larger than before.

Two new bus stops – including shelters – for the Number 9 Arriva bus service have been installed at the Nestuda Way end of the new road, in order to improve access to Tesco and the Royal Bank of Scotland offices.

New foot and cycle paths also run parallel to – but separate from – the road, in order to improve safety.

The Managing Director of London Southend Airport, Alastair Welch, says: “This new road and the subsequent runway extension is one of the final pieces of the jigsaw required to allow the airport to become a fully functional regional airport in time for the 2012 Olympics. This opportunity for South Essex to boast a modern, efficient regional airport – and the significant investment this will bring to the area – is unique, so it is great to see the all developments required to make this happen now taking place.”

The brand new 4-star hotel located at London Southend Airport is to be a Holiday Inn.

Building work recently got underway last month on the £10 million project sited on land adjacent to the Harp House Roundabout

The 129-bedroom hotel is the latest addition to the Holiday Inn portfolio and will be completed in time for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

In a first for Holiday Inn in the UK, the five-storey hotel will also have a fully sound-proofed rooftop bar and restaurant. It will be able to seat over one hundred customers, as they gaze out at the spectacular, panoramic views of the airport and surrounding area.

Holiday Inn Southend Airport will also offer a variety of conference and banqueting facilities, plus a choice of meeting rooms.

Chardon Management, the UK’s leading independent hotel management firm, has been appointed to run the hotel.

The Managing Director of London Southend Airport, Alastair Welch, says “I am delighted to be working with Holiday Inn, which is also the Official Hotel Provider to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Chardon Management. This hotel is a key part of Stobart’s plans to modernise London Southend airport, with superior quality and convenience both being vital ingredients to its success. I am confident that Holiday Inn and Chardon will deliver both.

“This hotel will hugely improve facilities for passengers and flight crew using the airport, whilst also becoming an exciting new resource for local businesses. I believe the new restaurant will become a destination venue for the community and people travelling from outside the town.”