A MAJOR airline has suspended flights from Southend Airport for two weeks – with the passenger terminal now closed.

Due to the new lockdown restrictions throughout November, travel between the UK and other countries has been discouraged, meaning Ryanair has chosen to suspend all flights from Southend.

The next flight is not due to take off until December 4 at the earliest.

A spokesman for Southend Airport said that most airlines had suspended or cancelled flights in November due to the new restrictions imposed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the start of the month to stop the spread of Covid-19.

The spokesman said the passenger terminal would remain closed until flights begin operating again, and said that other airports in England, such as Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted had also reduced capacity and opening hours.

The airport said “many” of its staff remain on furlough due to the challenging economic times, but refused to say how many.

Mark Flewitt, Tory councillor for St Laurence ward which includes the airport, said he empathised with the airport.

He said: “I’m really sad for them. I have been subject for furlough and redundancy, so I really empathise. I really empathise with what it actually means.

“It doesn’t just mean no aircraft noise, it’s no more jobs and for some, it’s no jobs full stop. There’s a big personal cost involved to so many individuals and families .

“On the commercial side it’s awful. We were becoming established as a clean airport but reality is being near residential areas they get relatively high levels of complaints.”

The news comes after easyJet announced it would be closing its base at the airport in August this year, with all flights stopping at the start of September.

The Unite union and easyJet staff have held protests at Southend Airport and it is believed 161 jobs have been lost as a result of Easyjet’s withdrawal.

Hope was raised earlier this month of a potential return for the airline, with Southend Council leader Ian Gilbert saying there had been positive talks with easyJet, and that “the door remained open”.

A spokesman for Ryanair said: “Due to increased flight restrictions imposed by EU Govts, air travel has been heavily affected. As a result, Ryanair has reduced its winter schedule taking capacity down to 40 per cent of prior year.

“Our UK schedules have been impacted by these capacity cuts, resulting in routes to/from Southend being discontinued for a period this winter season. Passengers affected by these cancellations have been notified.”