Proactive Investors - Southend Aiport has been put up for sale by owner Esken Ltd (LON:ESKN) as the aviation-come-renewables company’s financial woes grow.
Despite recovering demand for aviation and a recent deal for easyJet (LON:EZJ) PLC to operate from Southend, Esken confirmed the airport was up for sale in Wednesday’s full-year results.
“The case for the airport remains well founded, as demonstrated by the increase in routes served by easyJet,” Esken executive chairman David Shearer said.
Esken reported a rise in net debt by 17.3% to £290mln over the year, as total group revenue also grew by almost 15% to £120mln.
Liberum analysts expect the sale will be a lengthy process though, with Esken potentially putting off valuing the airport to allow the sector more time to recover.
“As airline capacity levels return to pre-pandemic levels we anticipate that London airport capacity constraints will once again become binding, leaving Southend Airport as the sole source of incremental airport capacity in the south east,” Liberum noted.
easyJet restarted flights from Southend in late March, amid a new multi-year deal which sees it fly to the likes of Amsterdam, Majora and Malaga from the site.
Rivals Wizz Air Holdings PLC (LON:WIZZ) and Ryanair (LON:0RYA) have dismissed speculation that they could set up routes from the Essex airport anytime soon meanwhile, leaving easyJet the airfield’s sole current commercial operator.
Some 2.04mln passengers passed through Southend Airport in 2019, according to Statista data, which marked the last full year before the Covid-19 pandemic grounded the industry.
Commercial flights then restarted from the airport in May 2022, with neither Wizz nor Ryanair ruling out eventual flights from the airport as demand recovers and more hubs around London are required.