UK: Would-be London hub on North Sea steps up push to lure carriers

Southend airport, seeking to become London’s sixth hub even though it’s almost an hour away on the North Sea, will operate its own flights in a bid to demonstrate the viability of an expanded timetable to carriers frustrated by capacity curbs at the far bigger Heathrow and Gatwick bases. The services to cities in mainland Europe will employ planes from Southend’s sister company Stobart Air, tapping unused slots outside of peak hours with the aim of showing customers including EasyJet that the timings can be profitably utilised, a company spokesman said. Southend aims to lift its passenger tally above 2.5m by 2018 from less than 1m in 2015 as a lack of operating slots elsewhere presents an opportunity for expansion. <br/>