AIRPORT bosses have insisted routes are not being cut after passengers raised concerns over a number of flights no longer being available.

Southend Airport has told the Echo that due to seasonal demands, airlines often update schedules, and insist the number of flights is not decreasing.

The denial comes after a resident had contacted the Echo raising concerns that the Wizz Air route to Sibiu, in Romania, had been cut and was no longer available from March 1.

But the airport confirmed this had been replaced with a route to Iasi, also in Romania.

There were also fears that Ryanair routes to Kosice, in Slovakia, Cluj, in Romania, and Copenhagen, in Denmark, had been cut after they were no longer listed as destinations on Southend Airport’s website.

But bosses were quick to allay fears, stating the the budget airline had replaced the three routes with six new destinations ready for this summer.

A spokesperson for Southend Airport said: “The number of routes from the airport is increasing with continuing demand from passengers for new destinations.

“Airlines update their schedules to reflect seasonal demands and changing customer trends.

“For Example, Wizz Air is flying to Iasi this summer, whereas during the winter they fly to Sibiu.

“In a similar way, Ryanair has replaced flights to Kosice, Cluj and Copenhagen from London Southend Airport with six new routes for summer 2020 including Bucharest, Venice Treviso and Vilnius.”

Ryanair is also set to launch three new routes to Bergerac, in France, Girona, in Spain, and Marseille, in France.

It means Ryanair is now offering 16 routes in total at the airport, expecting to exceed 650,000 customers a year.

The flight operator’s commitment to Southend Airport fits in with the airports aim of reaching capacity, and securing five million passengers a year by 2023.

In the long term, the airport is considering major expansion plans to one day reach 20 million passengers a year.