Flybe has announced six new international routes this summer from Southend.
The budget carrier's services, which will appeal to business and leisure users alike, will be to Rennes, Groningen and Munster Osnabruck and will start on June 5.
They will be followed by Caen (Normandy), Antwerp and Cologne. Flights to Antwerp and Rennes will be operated twice daily.
The routes are being operated under a franchise deal with Stobart Air and in the first year will expect to see Flybe operate 102 weekly flights and carry 200,000 passengers.
Southend's location means that air has a real advantage over high-speed rail.
Travellers living in the airport's catchment area will find they can reach Antwerp or Cologne, for example, more easily from Southend than if they had to trek to a Eurostar station (St Pancras or Ebbsfleet) on either side of the River Thames.
Flybe says that fares will start from £29.99 one-way. But, of course, that price is exclusive of ancillary charges.
Alex McWhirter
