Budget airline Easy Jet is expecting its busiest ever summer at Southend Airport.

Throughout the season, bosses expect to carry more than 830,000 passengers - a 20 per cent increase on last year.

It will mean since the airline launched in Southend seven years ago, it will have carried a total of 6 million passengers.

Bosses say the increase is down to new routes launched from Southend to Prague, Bordeaux and Dubrovnik and Pula, in Croatia.

In total, there are now 21 Easy Jet routes from Southend.

Neil Slaven, Director of UK Market at Easy Jet, said: "We are absolutely delighted to be celebrating a record year here at London Southend Airport.

"The addition of another aircraft and new routes this year is helping us to deliver long term, sustainable growth at the base providing passengers with an even greater range of convenient flights to a fantastic variety of destinations across our network - all with low fares and great service."

Glyn Jones, CEO Stobart Aviation, which runs Southend Airport, added: "We have enjoyed an exceptional seven years, working in partnership with Easy Jet, providing a growing mix of both leisure and business destinations.

"With up to six trains an hour into London in just 45 minutes and our unique customer service levels, it's no surprise that more and more people are choosing London Southend.

"There is currently much debate about future airport capacity in London. Our partnership demonstrates the very significant opportunities that are now being realised right now at London Southend.

"Our ambitions are closely aligned with Easy Jet’s plans to expand and grow, and we very much looking forward to developing our partnership further.”

Here are all the places you can now fly to from Southend Airport (this includes all airlines based at the airport) 

  • Stornoway
  • Glasgow
  • Aberdeen
  • Guernsey
  • Chişinău
  • Newquay
  • Copenhagen
  • Reus
  • Milan Bergamo
  • Bilbao
  • Brest
  • Cluj-Napoca
  • Corfu
  • Košice
  • Venice
  • Alicante
  • Amsterdam
  • Antwerp
  • Barcelona
  • Bordeaux
  • Caen
  • Dublin
  • Dubrovnik
  • Faro
  • Geneva
  • Groningen
  • Ibiza
  • Jersey
  • Lanzarote
  • Lyon
  • Malaga
  • Malta
  • Menorca
  • Murcia
  • Palma de Mallorca
  • Paris
  • Prague
  • Pula
  • Rennes
  • Sofia
  • Tenerife