MORE great news for Southend airport has seen it rated among the happiest airports in the world.

A global airport happiness report revealed Southend passengers have an average passenger satisfaction of 86.79 per cent, leaving them in sixth place in the global rankings.

The report assessed 160 airports across 36 countries analysing traveller feedback on an unprecedented scale.

Glyn Jones, Chief Executive of Stobart Aviation, owners of London Southend Airport says: “We’re absolutely delighted to feature prominently in HappyOrNot’s Airport Report and even more so knowing that it’s our passengers who rated us.

“Satisfaction levels regularly exceed 90 per cent, proving that the hard work and dedication of our teams is paying off.

“It also shows passengers that there truly is a better way to travel to and from London.

“We will not rest and will continue to work and improve the passenger experience.

“Our ambition remains to be the best as we continue to grow in the London market.”

The result marks even more success for the airport, which has had a sensational 2017 winning a host of awards as well as announcing a number of new routes across the world.

Earlier this year, Southend Airport was also ranked Best London Airport 2017 by Which? for the fifth year in a row.

Its network has grown rapidly throughout 2017 and now boasts over 30 short-haul domestic and European routes, with the most recent additions including Bordeaux, Pula, Antwerp, Dublin, Manchester, Glasgow, and Malta, among many others.

The results come from the inaugural Airport Report published by HappyOrNot, the Finnish company responsible for creating the globally recognisable “Smiley” feedback system.

The report’s feedback was gathered across 158 million data-points from HappyOrNot’s smiley terminals.

These are located in 160 airports across 36 countries.

Analysing air traveller feedback on an unprecedented scale, the report reveals the eight happiest airports globally, offering insight into how certain parts of the air travel experience are happier than others, and illustrates the best and worst times of the day, week, and year, to fly.

The feedback data in HappyOrNot’s Airport Report was collected between November 2016 and November 2017, from airports which received over 120,000 responses in the past year.

These were gathered across key experiential points such as security and baggage reclaim areas.