Cityjet has announced plans to operate a base at London Southend airport from next summer.

In a statement the Irish carrier said:

“Cityjet today announced that is has reached an outline agreement with the Stobart Group, owners of London Southend Airport, to base aircraft at the London airport from summer 2017.

“The agreement will involve Cityjet operating routes from the award-winning London airport to European destinations. The airline said the agreement with London Southend Airport will create up to 80 new jobs in the region.

“Full route details will be confirmed in due course.”

Stobart Group’s interim results presentation, published today (October 27), gives more details, stating that head of terms have been signed with Cityjet “to operate up to 18 new destinations, bringing up to 600,000 passengers through London Southend Airport from Spring 2017”.

The presentation also states that the Stobart group is “in discussion with Cityjet for the sale of our interests in the airline, Stobart Air”.

Formerly known as Aer Arann, Sobart Air operates scheduled services under the brands Aer Lingus Regional and Flybe, with bases at at Cork, Dublin, London Southend and Isle Of Man.

cityjet.com