Ford Returns to London Southend

International car giant Ford has this week resumed charter flights from London Southend shuttling its employees to its overseas production plants via Cologne, Germany and Craiova, Romania. The company has initially chartered a Boeing 737-300 from UK carrier Jet2.com for the flights, which started on January 9, 2012, but has signed a long-term agreement with German carrier Germania to use one of its Airbus A319s during the summer.

Ford, whose UK headquarters are based in Warley, near Brentwood, Essex, had originally offered dedicated shuttle flights for its employees from London Stansted but moved to London Southend in 2006, using its own Avro RJ on the flights crewed on its behalf by local carrier Flightline. However, the collapse of the charter provider in 2008 resulted in the end of the services with Ford instead making use of scheduled flights to transport its staff.