Ryanair goes head-to-head with Wizz from Southend

Ryanair announced plans to add Bucharest and Vilnius routes from London Southend – just hours after rival Wizz Air confirmed its intention to serve those same destinations from the UK airport. Ryanair and Wizz both plan to fly 5 times weekly to Bucharest from Southend. Lithuanian capital Vilnius will be served twice weekly by Wizz and 3 times a week by Ryanair. Ryanair had announced Aug 21 that it would begin flights from Georgia, linking capital Tbilisi with Bergamo and Kutaisi with another Italian destination, Bologna, and with Marseille in France. Ryanair's 279 flights from Southend this month account for 27% of the total from the airport. EasyJet has a 34% share, with 358 flights. Activity at the airport has grown significantly over the past year: the number of flights in August is up 13% on the same month last year. <br/>