An Essex airport has announced the long-awaited return of easyJet flights to a hugely popular holiday destination.

Southend Airport had been hinted at a major announcement over the past three days. Now, budget airline easyJet has announced it will relaunch its route from Southend to Alicante, which last operated in 2020.

Pre-pandemic, easyJet ran flights 10 times a week, with Ryanair additionally running five weekly flights to Alicante from Southend.

Holidaymakers were heartbroken after the destination was removed from Southend Airport's list, and bosses have been "working tirelessly" to get an Alicante service back into their schedules since.

On sale from today, the re-started route to the hotly anticipated holiday spot on the Costa Blanca coast adds to the airport's growing number of destinations with easyJet, including Malaga, Majorca, Faro, Paris, Geneva, and Amsterdam.

John Upton, London Southend Airport CEO, said: “We are excited, delighted and extremely proud to be able to deliver flights to Alicante for our passengers this winter; restarting our most profitable and popular route from October 29, and opening the door for passengers in Essex, east London and southeast of England to explore yet another area of Spain with our airline partner, easyJet.

Gazette: Southend Airport announces long-awaited return of popular holiday destinationSouthend Airport announces long-awaited return of popular holiday destination (Image: Pexels)

“I look forward to welcoming friends and families back to London Southend as we celebrate this milestone in the coming weeks with the return of their favourite destination.”

The route will operate twice a week from Sunday, October 29. Flights will depart on Thursdays and Sundays with fares starting from £22.99.

It comes just weeks after easyJet announced a new year-round flight to Amsterdam and also added Paris and Geneva this year.

Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK country manager, said: “We are really pleased to be launching another route from London Southend to Alicante to operate all which will be popular with those thinking about holidays this year and next.

“The city enjoys sunny weather all year round, which makes it a great holiday destination at any time of the year.

“We now offer more choice and great value for customers travelling with us so by further expanding our services at Southend so we are delighted to be offering customers great value fares and even more destinations to choose from.”

easyJet previously flew to Alicante between April 2012 to August 2020 and flew more than 856,000 passengers in that period.