WHEN Southend Airport began planning a major expansion, one former south Essex resident decided he would do all he could to bring easyJet to town.

Alan McIntyre, who grew up in Billericay and Brentwood, drew up plans to get easyJet to the airport, after the airport’s owners, the Stobart Group, announced expansion plans.

Mr McIntyre, easyJet’s head of network and scheduling for the past three years, put his local knowledge to the test and is delighted the plan has come together.

He said: “Stobart approached us last summer and outlined the ambitious plans for the airport and its expansion.

“Because of my background in Essex, particularly visiting Southend as a child, I thought it was an interesting idea for easyJet to fly from Southend.

“It was a major airport years ago, so I started to do a lot of my own research, as I had not been to Southend much recently.

“I took the children and my mum there for the day and found out what the place was like.”

Mr McIntyre said he wondered what had changed and it the town was still as busy as he remembered.

He said: “I left that day and thought ‘it could work’.”

Mr McIntyre, 42, said flying from Southend to the Channel Islands as a boy helped launch his career in the industry.

He said: “I used to visit the seafront a lot as a child and we would always go to the museum.

“It was probably coming to Southend that gave me the aviation bug.”

During the planning of easyJet’s move to Southend, a number of focus groups were held across Essex, including in Brentwood, Basildon and South-end.

Mr McIntyre said: “We looked at the major catchment areas and asked ourselves would people come to Southend and where would they come from, how long would it take them to get there?

“We looked at the airport and how it was developing and realised it fitted with what easyJet is about. It suits us in making travel easy and affordable, especially with the aspect of from train to plane with the new train station.”

Mr McIntyre said feedback from the groups was very positive.

In June, the airline announced it would fly to Barcelona, Faro and Ibiza from Southend. Last month, another five routes were revealed. From April, the airline will fly to Alicante, Malaga, Majorca, Amsterdam and Belfast.

Mr McIntyre said he is close to finalising two more destinations, which he could not reveal.

He would also not rule out more future destinations, if the initial ten routes prove popular with tourists.