The owners of Southend airport are negotiating with easyJet to attract more new routes.
The budget carrier is to start flights to Lyon from the Essex airport this autumn.
However, the airport suffered a 58,000 fall in passenger numbers to 231,000 in the three months to May 31.
Airport owner Stobart Group said ahead of its annual meeting today: “It is typical for an airline to increase and decrease the number of flights it runs from an airport in order to determine what the optimum capacity is for a particular route.
“London Southend airport is currently working through this process with easyJet, and this has resulted in a short-term fall in passenger numbers.”
Despite the quarterly decline, each flight carried more passengers and revenue per passenger increased.
“This is a direct result of the work the airport has been performing with easyJet to ensure they achieve optimum capacity on existing flights and are confident to build new routes,” Stobart said.
“This growing relationship means that new routes should be announced over the coming months and has been demonstrated by easyJet’s announcement today that it will launch a new route to Lyon from Southend starting in autumn 2015.”
Adria Airways started a service to Maribor in Slovenia earlier this month with three flights a week.
Stobart has a target to achieve more than 2.5 million passengers a year through Southend airport by 2018 against 1.09 million in the year to February 28.