Southend Airport London

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Has anyone travelled into London from Southend Airport.

Flight seems to be with FlyBe and there seems to be trains into Liverpool Street station in under an hour.

Wonder if it's just as handy as Gatwick / Stansted.

Thanks

theteal

We used it last week and it will easily be our first choice in future. The whole process was so much less hassle than Stansted - especially with the little 'un. It's so small that there's no messing about. Upon arrival last Wednesday, we were off the plane, bag collected and in the car part in about 4 minutes. The train station is directly connected - I did note that the train isn't exactly cheap (and we're just travelling from/to Romford)

We're moving out into proper Essex soon so I was very happy when heard that they were flying to Dublin again. My only concern is that flight on the Wednesday was <1/3 full, too many of those and I can't see the amount of available flights staying as is.

vicwatson

And just to clarify, Southend on sea is in Essex not London. As is stansted for that matter!

theteal

vicwatson wrote: »

And just to clarify, Southend on sea is in Essex not London. As is stansted for that matter!

There is only one airport in London if we're being exact. I did laugh when I saw them stating as much in their advertising material.

exaisle

I'd never fly to Southend...nor Heathrow nor Gatwick not Stansted. Especially not the last two!

London City Airport is 21 minutes from Bank station in the city. No contest. I'll never use any other airport in the greater London area when visiting the city.

Heathrow is 48 minutes...
Standsted is 53
Southend is 64
Gatwick is 55

Southend is the furthest airport from the city by train/tube...

theteal

While I am a fan of LCY and if travelling alone it is my first choice I do have to question your travel time to Southend there. In my head it's the same journey time as stansted from LST and now on checking the trains this morning, not one of them is above 60 mins, quickest of my small sample being 52 and slowest at 58 mins. Getting through the airport is so much quicker that Stansted too so that would play a huge factor. At DUB, you don't have to make the trek to/from the Ryanair gates, another bonus.

As mentioned previously OP, I will definitely be choosing Southend over Stansted for future trips. If you can get a competitively priced flight, LCY is obviously going to be the closest to the city

rainbow kirby

Flew out to Prague from SEN on Friday morning and back yesterday evening on Flybe. Long enough drive for us from N19 but the extra drive saved lots of stress compared to LTN or STN. Parked in Long Stay 3 and it was less than 5 minutes walk to the terminal, I think it was actually a longer walk from the medium term car park in Luton the last time we were there. No issues travelling with a toddler and buggy either, also I'm 30 weeks pregnant and wasn't asked for any medical documents. Even the passport control queue wasn't too painful on the way back, that can be nightmarish elsewhere.

We had already booked return flights from SEN-DUB for Christmas, no regrets there.

Mint Sauce

Really depends what part of London you are travelling to OP.

Luton (from the north) whilst not connected. Local train service brings you into London, and on through it. Stanstead, also from the North, has an express service to Liverpool St. Southend, as already pointed out. Gatwick, from the south, Commuter service, and Express into Victoria, always my first choice, but then my final destination in either Surrey, or SW London. Heathrow, in West London, connected by Piccadilly Underground, and Express to Paddington. Finally City Airport as above, with connections on the DLR. Oyster Card, if you have one, can also be used from Gatwick, Heathrow, and City.

theteal

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Flew out to Prague from SEN on Friday morning and back yesterday evening on Flybe. Long enough drive for us from N19 but the extra drive saved lots of stress compared to LTN or STN. Parked in Long Stay 3 and it was less than 5 minutes walk to the terminal, I think it was actually a longer walk from the medium term car park in Luton the last time we were there. No issues travelling with a toddler and buggy either, also I'm 30 weeks pregnant and wasn't asked for any medical documents. Even the passport control queue wasn't too painful on the way back, that can be nightmarish elsewhere.

We had already booked return flights from SEN-DUB for Christmas, no regrets there.

Ha ha, this was a small huddle beside the baggage carousel - not remotely resembling a queue, I didn't event get the impression that showing my passport was obligatory

We parked in some offsite (manor parking iirc) that was a quick shuttle away, £20 Sunday to Wednesday, call the bus for collection so no waiting around for specific pickup times, excellent service and half the price of parking at Stansted

rainbow kirby

theteal wrote: »

Ha ha, this was a small huddle beside the baggage carousel - not remotely resembling a queue, I didn't event get the impression that showing my passport was obligatory

We were coming in from Schengen area rather than CTA, I'd imagine it was different for a Dublin flight.

Incidentally, the Embraer we flew in from Prague on was becoming the Dublin flight with a quick turnaround and there seemed to be a decent queue for a Sunday 6:30pm flight.

BrokenArrows

exaisle wrote: »

I'd never fly to Southend...nor Heathrow nor Gatwick not Stansted. Especially not the last two!

London City Airport is 21 minutes from Bank station in the city. No contest. I'll never use any other airport in the greater London area when visiting the city.

Heathrow is 48 minutes...
Standsted is 53
Southend is 64
Gatwick is 55

Southend is the furthest airport from the city by train/tube...

LCY tends to be much more expensive but its also the closest for me.

Whenever i fly anywhere ill usually balance Stansted, Gatwick and London City and see which one has a best cost & time combination.
Most of the time Gatwick is 40+ cheaper even including the travel to Gatwick so cant really justify LCY.