Southend is now officially a London Airport

FRESH BLOOD: Southend is London's newest airport, but it is out performing its veteran peers in customer satisfaction.

Its official – London now has a new airport.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has now included London Southend Airport within its classification of the Metropolitan Area of London – meaning the airport is now officially London Southend to the rest of the world.

Whilst the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has always classed the Essex airport as ‘London,’ historically IATA has not.

This means whenever anyone from Boston to Barcelona or New York to Venice wants to fly to London, whenever they speak to their travel agent they will automatically be offered Southend as an option alongside the five other recognised London passenger airports – Gatwick, Heathrow, City, Stansted and Luton.

The result is increased options for people planning to travel to London and new opportunities for them to hear about London Southend Airport and what it has to offer, says Airport Managing Director Alastair Welch. “By offering London Southend alongside all the other London airports – especially at this key time when so many new customers are exploring ways of travelling to London for the Olympics – gives us further chances to demonstrate the great customer service and big benefits we can offer people over and above the other London airports, not only this summer, but also beyond.”

He added “We look forward to even more people discovering our new light and airy terminal building less than 100 paces from our brand new railway station with up to 8 trains per hour into the heart of London. Passengers flying out from London Southend will wait for a maximum of four-minutes for security, whilst those arriving with just hand luggage can expect to travel from plane to train within 15 minutes of their aircraft doors opening (30 minutes if collecting luggage). London Southend Airport is all about simplicity, speed and service – and even more people will get the option to experience it now.”