Southend Airport has revealed it is "eyeballing" a British city as its next destination for new flights amid huge demand for the route.

Airport bosses are searching for an airline to help bring back its Edinburgh route, which was previously used by 6,000 passengers per month in Southend's peak.

This comes as analysis of the "most searched for" destinations on its website revealed the Scottish capital was in the top ten.

A spokesman for Southend Airport said: "Eyeballing Edinburgh!

Echo: Eyeballing - Airport bosses want flights to the Scottish capital to returnEyeballing - Airport bosses want flights to the Scottish capital to return (Image: Pixabay)

"Over the last couple of months, we have had the opportunity to gather the thoughts and wisdom of the travelling public from our 8.2m population catchment area – in the form of a 'most searched for' destinations analysis on our website and a survey during our recent travel show.

"Appearing in the top 10 in both surveys was the Scottish capital – unsurprising really given that in past over 6,000 (or 200 per day) passengers per month used Edinburgh flights from London Southend in the peak.

"The underlying demand remains – with 185,000 annual journeys to and from our 35-mile catchment area in 2022. All we need now is an airline to fly it."

This comes after the airport hinting at additional "exciting" route announcements "very soon", following the cancellation of new flights to Milan with AeroItalia.