The Turmoil Surrounding London Southend Airport—Is the Airport Still Commercially Viable?

Global air passenger traffic is projected to reach 9.4 billion passengers in 2024, finally exceeding the 2019 level by 2.5%. But the wake of the pandemic has fully exposed the uneven recovery across airports within a region. This commentary looks at London Southend Airport (Southend) and its rollercoaster performance before and after the pandemic.

Key highlights include:
-- Recovery from the pandemic has been uneven across airports, particularly in London, which is served by six airports, all connected to public transport.
-- Although Southend is the smallest London airport, prior to the pandemic, its average annual passenger growth rate was the highest of the six in 2017–19. But at the end of 2023, Southend’s passenger traffic was only about 7% of the 2019 level.
-- However, given the prominence of leisure and visiting-friends-and-relatives travel, the business outlooks for smaller and underutilized airports may improve given the capacity constraint in the London area if they are able to overcome their financial challenges in the near term.

“We believe Southend will continue to face challenges in rebuilding its airline network, which has been the underlying issue for the slow recovery,” said Valiant Ip, Vice President, Corporate Ratings, Asset Performance. “However, a possible structural change in the aviation market in Europe may be the key to Southend's future if the current financial challenges at the airport are resolved.”