Budget airline easyJet has announced that it is launching the first direct flight between London Southend and Edinburgh from May 2. (Featured image by baaker2009)
The announcement of the six times-weekly service comes ahead of the airline’s addition of a seventh aircraft to Edinburgh Airport next month, as well the launch of new routes to Reykjavik, Hamburg, Berlin, Copenhagen, Prague and Dubrovnik.
“We’re thrilled to be announcing our first Scottish route from London Southend directly to the city of Edinburgh,” said Hugh Aitken, easyJet’s UK Commercial Manager.
“We’re making it extremely easy and affordable to visit the city or extend the journey further afield to other parts of the Lothians and Scotland by cutting the travel time to less than half compared to a train or car journey from the region and presenting our customers with great value.
“With flights departing six days a week, we’re sure that the new service will be extremely popular with those heading to Edinburgh whether that’s for business or pleasure.”
Flights on the new London Southend to Edinburgh route will start from £27.49 one way per person, based on two people travelling together.
“We welcome the news that easyJet is further investing in Scotland with a flight to London Southend,” said Liz Cameron, Chief Executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce.
“London remains a critical market for Scottish businesses and with the developments in East London and the Thames Estuary I am sure this new link will prove popular.”
The new route means that easyJet now provides more than 10,000 seats per day between London and Scotland.
The airline’s services link Scotland with the London bases of Stansted, Gatwick, London Luton and London Southend – more than any other airline.
The carrier has also recently announced that it is extending services on the Malta to Manchester route, adding 10,000 thousand seats to its summer 2013 schedule.
The number of flights on the route will increase from five to six flights per week, meaning that from 25 March, the airline will operate flights between Malta and Manchester every day except Sundays.
The news comes as easyJet recently celebrated flying 1.5 million passengers to and from Malta.
