SOUTHEND Airport has announced 200 new jobs as part of a new recruitment drive.

The airport is looking for staff for a number of roles including ground handling, cleaners and security.

It will be holding two recruitment days next week on Wednesday September 11 and Thursday September 12.

Glyn Jones, chief executive of Stobart Aviation, which owns and operates Southend Airport, said he is delighted to be able to announce the new jobs.

He said: “What is different this time is this pace of growth, we are growing very quickly.

“There is not an exact link between passenger numbers and jobs, but we do need more people.

“We are looking for people across the board, we need people for cleaning.

“I have run five airports and the thing that comes back is how clean it is.

“We also need people to work in our security department, that’s the bit where people spend the most time with staff so we need good people there too.

“We are looking for about 35 people in security, 15 in our cleaning team and about three or four in our fire team which is about 50 staff.

“We then need about 150 new staff in our ground handing department, this role includes baggage and freight handling as well as perform various odd jobs to prepare planes for flight.

“We are developing super fast and this year we are 46 per cent up in passengers from last year.”

Mr Jones said the airport is on track to reach 2.5million passengers through its doors this yea and added he’s pleased to be able to offer new careers in aviation to 200 families.

The airport boss said: “People can come along to the recruitment days and talk to a variety of different managers about the roles on offer.”

The recruitment events will be taking place from 4pm to 7pm in the main terminal building at the airport.

Mr Jones said it will help give prospective staff a chance to learn about the career opportunities on offer at the growing airport

Last month the airport announced it’s set to take over the “vital” route between Northern Ireland’s second city and London.

Now very well-known thanks to the hugely popular Derry Girls, flights to Derry-Londonderry from Southend will start in October.