Southend Airport

Nicely planned new buildings. Easy reasonable parking. Convenient rail station linking Liverpool Street London. Airport is not up to full capacity as yet, so no real hold ups. Security clearance could improve with better signage requirements i.e. belts, shoes, watches, ipads, etc. Very enthusiastic customs staff considering many returning old folk from Lanzarote The weather outbound was bad and queuing in the draftee windy passage before boarding was abysmal. Needs improving from cold blowing winds.

Excellent quick and straight forward. A breath of fresh air from the bigger airports. I live in the Southeast and although Gatwick is nearer to me I would choose Southend instead because of the low hassle feel.

Flew on 9th January 2015 to Maastricht. Through security in a couple of minutes staff very friendly. Breakfast and coffee very good. Plenty of room in modern airey clean terminal. Boarding a breeze. Lovely experience all round.

Great airport especially now the extension is finished. Well laid out and organised. From landing to being in the car was 10 minutes! Beats the chaos at Stansted any time.

If your flight leaves first thing in the morning then don't bother! I travelled from Yorkshire to get my flight to Barcelona at 7 in the morning and got there at 1am had to "sleep" in the cold train station until it re-opened thankfully I wasn't the only person as there was about 10 of us. Last train from Southend to the airport was around 1am and vice versa so had no chance of going back into London for a few hours to pass time. There should be something for passengers who are catching flights first thing as not everyone drives and people come from far to catch early morning flights. Was ok once I got in speedy check in and going through security was fast too. Had a nice sleep on the plane but I wouldn't travel from there again because of the time it takes travelling and cost etc.

Flew from SEN to Dublin today and couldn't believe what was happening at security! One in about four bags passed straight through the X-ray check so that meant about three bags in four were treated as suspicious and were searched by hand by a security woman. Are travellers through SEN so very much worse than through any other airport or had SEN a serious problem. I put my case through the machine only to discover it was in a line with five before me that had to be checked! Luckily we were in plenty of time but we were delayed 45 mins at security and we saw two people miss flights because of this! There were only 20 or 30 passengers in the security at the time but virtually everyone had their luggage searched. Meanwhile everywoman that walked through the security screen set off the alarm and had to be frisked by the same woman who was searching the bags. She just stopped all progress with the queue of bags that was building up and went to search the queue of women waiting to be frisked! Never again!

Having used the airport a number of times I can certainly say that it is by far the best airport for short haul flights. So often you find yourself walking for miles before you reach your gate - here it's up some stairs through security down some stairs and you're at the gate. Forget gate #98 - there are only about 6 gates. You're not made to walk past hundreds of shops - there are just three airside and the only ones you need in an airport; a cafe/restaurant a newsagent and duty free. The lounge is basic but does the job and given the nature of the airport and the fact that you do not need to spend long there it is sufficient. The speed of the queues is amazing - the best I've experienced anywhere. Arrivals are amazing the best coming home from Dublin took me 30 seconds from going into the terminal to coming out. I have used easyJet and Aer Lingus and I am looking forward to flyBe and SkyWork.

I frequent airports world-wide with work and holidaying. I have never in any country I have been to been treated in the way which I was at London Southend airport. The security staff were roaring at us and pushing us as if we were dogs. They had their own rules from what I could see about carrying liquids. They would only allow one clear bag per person which had to be sealed so they had no problem in throwing out what could not fit into this one tiny sealed clear bag. This has never been "the rules" at any other airport I have been to so long as the liquids were in a clear unsealed bags and under 100ml. This whole experience unfortunately took the good out of my holiday and general perception on London as a tourist.

Without question the worst airport experience of my life. There is no option but to deal with the security staff at this airport - they are often the people who check you in and onto the plane. And they are the rudest people you will come across as well as being incompetent. I was one of many who missed my flight today as a result of unnecessary delays from security staff. I was then threatened with being thrown out of the airport for complaining and told they 'don't really have a complaints process.' Please avoid.

Flew to and from Geneva with easyJet and the entire experience was great. Having decided that my wife and I would rather drive to Geneva than use that well known 3rd World Airport just north of London and known as Luton the news that easyJet had started a regular service from SEN was welcome. From the ease of car parking in the long- stay pre-paid car park to the short walks to terminal then to the aircraft made departure so relaxed. On return the flight arrived and we were in our car and leaving within 25 minutes despite having to collect baggage. Well done LON-SEN and easyJet for flying from this airport. Just thank goodness we don't need to go through Luton any more.