easyJet’s CEO confirms loyalty scheme plans as we visit the new Southend base

Three weeks ago we told you, exclusively, that easyJet was planning to launch a loyalty scheme later this year.

For legal reasons our story contained a number of ‘allegedly’, ‘rumoured’, ‘might’ etc phrases but we believed it to be true.

I was with easyJet CEO Kenton Jarvis on Monday at London Southend airport and asked him directly if the HfP story was correct.

Kenton said that he had read the article. Whilst easyJet is not going to launch a loyalty scheme imminently, it is something that they are looking at.

Kenton sees a weak spot for British Airways in early 2026 when those who have failed to retain their status for 2026/27 are looking for options.

The story was immediately picked up by Reuters:

and Bloomberg:

What is happening with easyJet at London Southend?

We were at Southend for the launch of easyJet’s new base at the airport. This is easyJet’s 10th UK base following the Birmingham launch last year.

Whilst easyJet has been flying from Southend for a while now, it has been using aircraft based elsewhere.

As of this week there are three A320neo aircraft based permanently at London Southend. This is important in terms of jobs – the pilots will live locally (it turns out the daughter of Southend’s mayor is an easyJet First Officer!), the cabin crew will live locally and the maintenance staff will live locally.

This summer will see easyJet operate up to 122 flights per week from Southend. It is the only easyJet base where every flight is also available via easyJet Holidays – this is very much a leisure base.

Here is the easyJet network from London Southend:

As we’ve written on HfP before, London Southend is underrated if you live or work in London. There are three trains per hour from Liverpool Street and Stratford, it is 52 minutes from Liverpool Street and the railway station is literally two minutes walk from the terminal entrance.

With little of the queuing or delays that impact Heathrow and, to a lesser extent, Gatwick, it’s a very pleasant airport to use and worth considering.