On a rain-lashed Thursday afternoon in early February, the departure lounge at Southend Airport is empty. There are just two flights taking off from the terminal 36 miles east of central London that once aspired to break into the top tier of British aviation.
Away from the tarmac, the near-deserted site in Essex is at the centre of an escalating dispute between one of the world’s largest private equity groups and a penny stock infrastructure company.
The $426bn investment firm Carlyle Group is demanding the early repayment of a ￡125mn loan made to the airport in 2021, when the aviation industry was reeling from international travel restrictions.
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