Friday 07 February 2020 8:44 am

London Southend Airport named UK’s fastest growing airport in 2019

By: Michael Searles

London Southend Airport has been named as the UK’s fastest-growing commercial airport for 2019, according to new data from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The aviation watchdog’s data has revealed that the number of passengers choosing to use the airport grew by 37.5 per cent last year.

London Southend’s Airport saw a new record high of more than 2m passengers pass through.

Its increase in passengers on the year before was more than twice any other airport.

Doncaster Sheffield Airport saw an increase of 15.2 per cent to just under 1.5m passengers, while the City of Derry airport saw the third largest increase.

It comes following a survey conducted by LSA, which showed its customers were using the train from London to access the airport more regularly.

Of more than 18,000 people surveyed, the poll found that 47 per cent used the train to get to the airport, 67 per cent of which traveled from London.

This increase in London passengers travelling via train comes following the introduction of new services to and from Liverpool Street station.

Glyn Jones, chief executive of Stobart Aviation, which owns LSA, said the airport had the capacity and was on track to grow to 5m passengers by February 2023.

“LSA now has more routes than ever thanks to our partnerships with great airlines such as easyJet,  Ryanair, Loganair, Wizzair and FlyBe,” he said.

“Which? readers have voted us as London’s best airport for the past six consecutive years, in large part due to a lack of queues and our hassle-free rail links into the heart of London.”