Into central London
Train time (mins) 55–60
London terminus for train London Liverpool Street
Train cost per adult (£) 13–20
Driving time (mins) 70–120
Taxi cost per vehicle (£) 93–143
Ride share cost per vehicle (£) 88–212
Coach cost per adult (£) No coach

We checked these figures in October 2026. The Travel page explains how we measured them.

For families

  • Southend’s page for families: there’s a small play table after security, SKYCAFÉ will warm baby bottles, and there’s baby changing before and after security.
  • Security with children at Southend: families with children aged 5 and under can use the Fast Track lane for the boarding-pass check, and you can keep up to 2 litres of liquids in your bag, plus baby milk and food.
  • Landing at Southend: the airport’s step-by-step guide to arriving; there are no toilets between the plane and passport control, so take children to the toilet before you land.
  • Flying easyJet with children: families with children under 5 board early, and you can keep your buggy (stroller) until you get on the plane, when it goes in the hold free.

For autistic travellers

The front of London Southend Airport's terminal

The front of London Southend Airport’s terminal.

London Southend is a small, single-terminal airport on the edge of Southend-on-Sea in Essex, about 42 miles east of Charing Cross by road. All its scheduled flights are easyJet. The railway station is about 100 paces from the terminal along a covered walkway, with lifts (elevators) to the platforms.

Getting into London

We checked these fares in October 2026.

By train

Two white Greater Anglia trains with yellow fronts side by side at red buffer stops in London Liverpool Street station

Greater Anglia trains at London Liverpool Street, where the trains from Southend Airport arrive.

Greater Anglia runs about three trains an hour to London Liverpool Street by day from Monday to Saturday, more in the weekday rush hour, and two an hour (every 30 minutes) on Sundays and after about 9pm on other days. The journey takes just under an hour, and trains call at Stratford after 45 to 50 minutes. On weekdays the first train leaves at 4.05am and the last at 11.59pm. An adult single (one way) ticket is about £13 off-peak and about £20 at peak times. At Stratford or Liverpool Street you can change for the Elizabeth line to Tottenham Court Road, Bond Street and Paddington.

Buying tickets for Greater Anglia trains

Paying by contactless

A yellow card reader with the Oyster logo on top of a London Underground ticket gate, next to a small green screen

A yellow card reader on a London Underground ticket gate. Adults touch in on one at the start of the journey and touch out at the end.

  • Since 8 March 2026, adults can pay for Greater Anglia trains by touching a contactless bank card, or a phone or watch with Apple Pay or Google Pay, on the reader at the ticket gates at Southend Airport and again at Liverpool Street.
  • Each person travelling on contactless needs a separate card or phone, but a phone or watch counts as a different card from the bank card linked to it, even on the same account, so one parent can pay for two people, one touching in with the card and the other with the phone.
  • Use the same card/phone every time, and keep your phone charged, or you risk overpaying.
  • Hold only one card or phone to the reader, and keep other cards away from it, or the reader may charge the wrong one.
  • Many cards from abroad work, but your bank may charge an overseas transaction fee.
  • Contactless only charges adult fares, so children aged 5 to 15 need a paper ticket or e-ticket (see Children’s tickets below).
  • If you use the same card or phone all day, on the Tube and buses as well as the train, the daily cap stops your fares, including the train from the airport, at £31.40, or £52.50 if any journey started in the weekday morning peak (6.30am to 9.30am), though if you touch in at the airport between 9am and 9.30am, that train costs the peak fare but counts towards the £31.40 cap.

Children’s tickets

  • Under-5s travel free with a paying adult and children aged 5 to 15 pay half the adult fare, while anyone aged 16 or over pays the adult fare.
  • Greater Anglia’s Kids for £2 offer lets up to four children per adult travel for £2 each on an off-peak return.
  • The £2 tickets must go with an adult’s off-peak paper ticket or e-ticket, because at Southend Airport the offer doesn’t work alongside an adult paying by contactless.
  • You can buy the £2 tickets at the station or online, but they aren’t valid on weekday trains leaving Southend Airport between 4.30am and 9.29am, or on weekday trains back from London leaving between 4pm and 7pm, when children pay half the Anytime fare.
  • If you change to the Tube or the Elizabeth line in London, under-11s travel free on them with each paying adult.
  • On the Tube and the Elizabeth line, children aged 11 to 15 pay half fare with Transport for London’s (TfL’s) Young Visitor discount, which staff at any Tube station can add to an Oyster card while the children are with you.

Paying at the airport

  • Adults pay £13.40 to Liverpool Street by contactless (£20.10 if you touch in between 6.30am and 9.30am on a weekday), the same as a paper single (one way) ticket, or less on weekday trains from 4.30am to 6.30am, when a paper ticket costs the Anytime fare.
  • Ticket machines stand in the baggage reclaim hall, in the terminal just before the exit to the station, and in the passage to the station and the station itself, so you can buy tickets while you wait for your bags.
  • The airport is cashless, so the machines in the terminal take only cards and phones, and only one machine at the station takes cash.
  • The station ticket office in the booking hall is open from 6am to 11pm every day, including bank holidays, and the station machines work 24 hours a day.
  • The ticket office and the station machines also print tickets you booked online for collection.
  • Liverpool Street has plenty of ticket machines for the trip back.

Booking ahead online or in an app

  • Greater Anglia’s website and app charge no booking fee and send e-tickets with a barcode that you scan at the ticket gates from your phone, a printout or Apple or Google Wallet.
  • When we checked in October 2026 there were no cheaper Advance tickets from Southend Airport to London, so buying in the app once you’ve landed costs the same as booking weeks ahead.
  • Off-Peak and Anytime tickets aren’t tied to one train, so if your flight is late you can take a later train on the date shown on the ticket.
  • National Rail shows train times and fares but doesn’t sell tickets, so it passes you to a train company’s site to buy, and Trainline sells the same tickets but adds a booking fee (see Tickets to avoid below).

Tickets to avoid

  • A ticket booked weeks ahead saves nothing on this route, and once its date has started it can’t be changed to another day, so if your flight is cancelled you’d have to ask the seller for a refund, which is at their discretion and can cost up to £5 a ticket.
  • An Off-Peak ticket isn’t valid on weekday trains leaving Southend Airport between 4.30am and 9.29am, so if an early landing puts you on one, you’ll be charged the difference to the Anytime fare, though contactless costs £13.40 until 6.30am.
  • You don’t need an Anytime ticket (£20.10) at other times, because trains into London before 4.30am and from 9.30am on weekdays, and all day at weekends and on bank holidays, take Off-Peak tickets, and contactless then costs £13.40.
  • Trainline usually adds a booking fee of 59p to £2.79 to the same tickets that Greater Anglia sells without one (none for same-day bookings in its app from the UK, and different fees for bookings from abroad).
  • Oyster cards aren’t accepted at Southend Airport, so keep yours for the Tube and pay for the train with a ticket or contactless.

By bus

The airport buses serve only nearby Essex towns, and there is no coach or night bus to London, so if you land late, check the time of the last train.

Taxi

The taxi rank is right outside the terminal, about 50 paces from the Arrivals exit. The cars belong to the airport’s official taxi firm, Andrews Taxis (phone +44 (0)1702 200 200). You can’t book the rank taxis in advance, so book at the kiosk on the rank, where a marshal can help. Andrews’ price list for taxis booked ahead shows £125 to London Victoria or Paddington, plus possible extras for card payment or tolls, so ask for the price at the kiosk before you set off. If a delayed flight makes you miss the last train, Andrews runs a shared taxi to Liverpool Street at £27.50 a person (or £110 for the whole taxi if there are fewer than four of you).

If a taxi driver doesn’t provide the right child seat, the law lets children travel without one, but only in a back seat, with an adult seat belt if they’re 3 or older and without a belt if they’re under 3.

Paying for a taxi

Paying at the airport

  • The taxis on the rank outside the terminal are run by Andrews Taxis, the airport’s official taxi firm, and you book one at the kiosk on the rank, where a marshal can help.
  • Andrews Taxis may charge extra for paying by credit card, so ask at the kiosk for the price, and how you can pay, before you set off.
  • Tipping is up to you, but 10% is standard.

Booking ahead online or in an app

  • You can’t book the rank taxis ahead, because taxis from the airport can only be booked at the kiosk on the rank.

Things to avoid

  • Don’t accept a ride from a driver who comes up to you, because minicabs must be booked in advance.

Ride sharing

Bolt picks up at the airport and Uber works in Southend, and the app shows where to meet your driver. The driver of any car that stops in the Express Pick-up and Drop-off area opposite the terminal pays the airport £8 for up to 10 minutes, so check the price in the app before you book. Freenow doesn’t pick up at Southend Airport.

Uber and Bolt don’t supply child seats. If the driver of a licensed taxi or minicab doesn’t provide the right child seat, the law lets children travel without one, but only in a back seat, with an adult seat belt if they’re 3 or older and without a belt if they’re under 3.

Booking and paying for a ride share

Paying at the airport

  • Check the price in the Uber or Bolt app before you book, and the price Bolt’s app shows before you ask for a ride is the final price.

Booking ahead online or in an app

Things to avoid

  • Don’t accept a ride from a driver who comes up to you, because minicabs must be booked in advance.
  • Before you get into a car you booked, check the details the driver was given to make sure it’s yours.
  • For a Bolt ride, check that the car’s colour and make and the driver’s details match the app before you get in.

Once you’re in town, see Travelling around London for tips on getting about.

🛜 Free WiFi throughout the airport. Connect to ‘London Southend Free WiFi’ and sign up with your first name, last name and email address, then click the link in the email you’re sent.