AS Southend Airport prepares for flights to get off the ground again, Ryanair has swooped in to save a major route from being axed.

The budget airline has announced it will offer £9.99 tickets from Southend Airport to Vilnius, in Lithuania, after Wizz Air cut the route.

The “rescue fares” aim to help passengers impacted by the cancellation of Wizz Air’s route.

Wizz Air only revealed the new flights in August last year, at the same time it revealed routes to Romania - to both Bucharest and Sibiu.

Ryanair’s Eimear Ryan said: “Wizz Air’s customers can continue to enjoy the lowest fares and most reliable service by switching to Ryanair, and we’ve released rescue fares to assist customers affected by Wizz Air’s ceasing of this route.

Echo:

Picturesque - Ryanair flights will run to Vilnius twice-a-week from Southend 

“Customers can fly from London Southend to Vilnius operating twice weekly at fares starting from just £9.99 until the end of August 2020, and these rescue fares are on sale now until midnight Wednesday 24 June, only on the Ryanair.com website.

“Since these amazing low fares will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.”.

The announcement came as the Echo revealed that the airport had made preparations to keep passengers safe when more people are allowed to fly after the Covid-19 pandemic.

These precautions include PPE vending machines and hand sanitisers every 20 paces.

The first passenger flight from Southend took off yesterday, before a phased return comes into place this summer.

All passengers entering the airport are required to wear face masks.