Loganair's Southend to Aberdeen flights take off
The first Loganair flights between London Southend and Aberdeen have officially taken to the skies, as the airlines direct services from London Southend Airport celebrated their inaugural departure.
A major boost for connectivity with Scotland’s oil and gas capital, the new business focused schedule follows a period of overall reduction in London’s airlinks with Aberdeen.
Glyn Jones, Chief Executive of Stobart Aviation (owners of London Southend Airport), Denise Rossiter, Chief Executive of Essex Chamber of Commerce and Jonathan Hinkles, Loganair’s Managing Director, were all in attendance for the first service.
Customers from London Southend can choose from three non-stop flights to Aberdeen each way every weekday, together with Sunday services, all operated by Loganair’s Embraer 145 regional jet aircraft. The schedule is designed to enable a full working day in the Granite City before an evening flight home.
Flight times are only one hour and 35 minutes and all include 20kg hold luggage and complimentary in-flight refreshments as standard. Customers can enjoy a quick check-in through security in an airport which is much easier to navigate than its London counterparts, arriving on one of five peak time trains per hour from London’s Liverpool Street Station – only 52 minutes away.
Customers can also connect via Loganair’s Aberdeen hub onwards to Orkney and Shetland.
Loganair’s Managing Director Jonathan Hinkles said: “Air connectivity with London is incredibly important for the North East of Scotland where there has been significant capacity reduction to other London airports of late. We’ve specifically created a schedule which is optimum for those travelling for business during the week, with day-return schedules in addition to our rewarding frequent flyer programme: Clan Loganair.
“It is an ideal partnership, bringing together the European Regions Airline Association’s Airline of the Year and Which? Magazine’s Best Airport in London, working in tandem to provide year-round services from Aberdeen with an entirely new offering for our customers.”
Denise Rossiter, Chief Executive of Essex Chambers of Commerce, said “I am delighted to see the launch by Loganair of this new route from London Southend to Aberdeen. Both areas are highly entrepreneurial and this new service will be of real benefit to businesses in Essex and Aberdeen. I wish them well for the future and look forward to trying it myself.”
Glyn Jones, CEO of Stobart Aviation, said: “London Southend Airport is now the capital’s new gateway to Scotland. Today marks the start of a major new network to the Highlands and Islands, thanks to our partnership with award winning airline Loganair. Aberdeen is a fantastic addition to London Southend’s extensive route map and we’d like to welcome the passengers aboard this inaugural service to Scotland’s North East. With our own railway station just 100 paces from the terminal door, up to six trains an hour into London and our award-winning customer service, we expect these new routes to prove very popular with customers flying to and from the Granite City.”
London Southend Airport is an established airport serving business and leisure passengers across Europe, has its own railway station, with up to six train services an hour direct to London Liverpool Street (in 52 minutes) and features fast check in and security procedures.
Loganair is a major regional airline, headquartered in Glasgow but with bases in Aberdeen and Norwich. It serves over 40 destinations across the Scottish Highlands and Islands, the UK and Europe - including Dublin, Derry, Donegal, Esbjerg, Dusseldorf, Oslo, Brussels, Bergen and Stavanger.
The airline currently operates over 1,000 flights every week with a fleet of 39 aircraft ranging eight to 50 passenger seats. It carried around 800,000 passengers in 2017/18 on its scheduled services and continues to expand both its passenger volumes and network. Loganair is a codeshare partner of British Airways and has interline agreements with Qatar, Emirates, Thomas Cook, Turkish Airlines, Air France and KLM. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Airline Investments Ltd, a UK company.