easyJet's first London Southend to Belfast City flight left on Monday 2 November. It flies Mondays, Fridays and Sundays, one of 26 easyJet routes from Southend.

The first easyJet flight from London Southend to Belfast City took off on Monday 2 November, and the route now runs three times a week, on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays. It gives people in Southend, Leigh, Rochford and the rest of south Essex a direct flight from the airport on their doorstep to Northern Ireland’s capital.

The airport and the airline announced the launch on Monday afternoon. Flights are on sale at easyJet.com and in the easyJet app.

A note on the date: when we reported the autumn routes, the airport’s Belfast destination page gave Sunday 25 October as the start. The airline’s launch announcement says the service commenced on 2 November, and we have corrected our earlier stories.

What the route offers

The service flies into Belfast City Airport, the one beside the city rather than Belfast International out at Aldergrove. easyJet pitches it at long weekends, short breaks, visiting friends and family, and business travel. At this end, the airport’s own station puts the terminal on the line to London: the airport says it is ten minutes from train to gate, with direct trains from Stratford in 43 minutes and from London Liverpool Street in 52.

London Southend to Belfast City at a glance: first flight Monday 2 November 2026; flies Mondays, Fridays and Sundays; one of 26 easyJet routes from Southend this winter, with three based aircraft.
The Belfast route at a glance. Graphic by Southend Today
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What the airport and easyJet said

Nigel Mayes, Business Development Director at London Southend Airport, said:

“We’re really pleased to welcome Belfast to our growing route network. Adding another domestic destination is an important step in broadening the choice available to passengers across Essex, London and the wider region, while strengthening the connections between our communities.

“It’s fantastic to see easyJet continuing to invest in London Southend, and the launch of Belfast is another example of the exciting growth taking place at the airport. We’re committed to making it easier for more people to fly from their local airport, with a convenient, straightforward experience from start to finish.”

Kevin Doyle, easyJet’s UK Country Manager, said:

“We’re really pleased to have launched our new route between London Southend and Belfast City, providing our customers across the region with even more choice and great value when they travel with us.

“Belfast is a fantastic destination for both leisure and business travellers and, with convenient airports at both ends of the route, we’re sure the new service will prove popular with customers travelling between the two regions.”

Where Belfast sits in Southend’s winter schedule

Belfast is one of 26 routes easyJet is flying from Southend this winter, according to the airline, alongside destinations including Sharm El Sheikh, Munich, Budapest, Edinburgh and Lyon. easyJet says the routes are flown by three aircraft based at the airport, with 140 pilots and crew as well as engineers. As we reported in September, a fourth based aircraft is due next summer, when Rhodes is added.

Belfast joins Edinburgh as a domestic route from Southend. The airport says it will offer 31 destinations this year, with Belfast City, Budapest, Edinburgh, Lyon, Rhodes and Sharm El Sheikh the new routes.

The airport also makes some claims about itself in its launch material. It says it was the UK’s fastest growing airport in 2025, with passengers up 150% on 2024, and that it had the best on-time performance in London last year, fourth in the UK, with an average delay of 10 minutes 24 seconds. It says around eight million people live within an hour of the terminal, a catchment it puts at the size of Switzerland. Our report on the airport’s punctuality figures for the second quarter of 2026 sets out the published data.

Sources