Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (2 April) officially opened its new base at London Southend with 3 aircraft (an investment of $300m) and kicked off its summer 19 schedule with 14 new routes, including exciting new connections to Alicante, Corfu, Faro and Milan Bergamo, which will deliver over 1m customers p.a. and support 750 “on-site” jobs at London Southend Airport.

London consumers and visitors can now book their holidays as far out as March 2020, enjoying even lower fares and Ryanair’s 2019 customer care improvements, including:

• Lowest Fares – find a cheaper fare within 3 hours, get paid the difference plus €/£ 5 MyRyanair credit
• Punctuality – deliver 90% target (excl. ATC) or 5% off following month’s air fares
• Customer Care Charter – EU261 claims processed in 10 days, new 24/7 support, connect in 2 mins
• Care Improvements – 48-hour free of charge grace period for changes to bookings
• Environmental Improvements – carbon offset programme, environmental partnerships & plastic free in 5 years
• New Ryanair Choice – €199 annual fee for free seats, fast-track & priority boarding for freq. guests
• Digital Improvements – new fare finder, sports tickets, bespoke travel guides & faster mobile

To celebrate the start of these new routes, Ryanair has released seats for sale from just £12.99, for travel until the end of May, which must be booked by midnight Friday (5 Apr), only on the Ryanair.com website.

Ryanair’s Chiara Ravara said:

“We’re pleased to open our new London Southend base, with 3 based aircraft (an investment of $300m), and kick off 14 new routes, which will deliver 1m customers p.a. and support 750 jobs at London Southend Airport this year.

To celebrate, we are releasing seats for sale from just £12.99, for travel until the end of May, which are available for booking until midnight Friday (5 Apr). Since these amazing low prices will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.”

Glyn Jones, London Southend Airport said:

“We are delighted to welcome the first Ryanair flight to London Southend Airport today. Ryanair passengers can now fly to 14 new routes and enjoy a quick and easy airport with direct trains to London Liverpool Street in 51 minutes. 

“This is an exciting time for London Southend Airport. We welcomed 1.5million passengers last year. With the arrival of Ryanair, we will be welcoming over 2.5 million. We are growing fast. We believe we can maintain this momentum with more airlines recognising that we represent an attracting destination for growth in London.”