Glasgow Prestwick Airport

About Glasgow Prestwick Airport

RUNWAYS
Glasgow Prestwick is in the enviable situation of having two long runways.

Glasgow Prestwick has no history of adverse weather conditions disrupting operations.

AIRCRAFT
On a regular basis the Airport is used commercially by all major aircraft types. Regular visiting aircraft include, Concorde, Antonov 124, C5 Galaxy and the Boeing 777 on training operations.

BACKGROUND
The Airport started life in 1935 and gradually built up to be the Transatlantic Gateway for Scotland. Following the creation of BAA plc from the British Airports Authority, BAA took the decision to sell off Prestwick in favour of the smaller facility at Paisley which now feeds their London hub operations at Heathrow and Gatwick. The sale took place on 1st April 1992. The company was then called ACAP (Ayrshire Community Airport Project) and is now called Prestwick Aviation Holdings Limited (which owns a number of subsidiary companies including the Airport operating company, Glasgow Prestwick International Airport Ltd). The Airport was subsequently purchased by Stagecoach Holdings plc in April 1998 and then in January 2001 by a group of companies made up of Infratil (www.infratil.com), The Special Utilities Investment Trust PLC ("SUIT") and Omniport PLC. In 1992, the Airport had a mere 51 employees. There were no passenger flights and little freight – only 6 freighters per week, operated by Federal Express. Since 1992, the Airport has grown to become busier than at anytime in its history. Passenger numbers are expected to exceed 1 million in 2001 and freight throughput exceeds all other Scottish airports in total.

FUTURE
With the number of air passenger journeys continuing to rise, Prestwick has its sights firmly set on continuing the expansion of recent years. Prestwick has already introduced direct low cost services to Europe and plans to once again provide direct long haul scheduled services to other parts of the world. Prestwick has also established itself as a base for aerospace industries with companies including BAe Systems, GE Caledonian, BF Goodrich and Woodward Governor on site. The recent opening of the 1st 747 hangar in Scotland (for Polar Air Cargo) sets the scene for large scale MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) operations at Prestwick Airport.

FREIGHT
Freight business continues to grow rapidly. Airlines such as Cargolux, Air France, Polar Air, Panalpina and Singapore Airlines Cargo operate scheduled services to and from destinations around the world every week. Numerous ad-hoc charters also operate through the Airport utilising aircraft such as the Galaxy, DC8, IL76, L1011, C130, A300 and the world’s largest freighter the Antonov 124.

In 1992 less than 15,000 tonnes of freight passed through the Airport. This current year will see freight throughput figures approaching 60,000 tonnes.

In January 1999 a 115,000 square feet freight centre was completed to accommodate ever increasing demands. Glasgow Prestwick Bond Ltd who provide pallet build-up/breakdown, warehousing and trucking for the scheduled carriers and forwarding community operate from a 40,000 square feet facility on site.

A new BIP (Border Inspection Post) facility capable of handling horses, cattle and other animals became operational in October 2000.

Recent negotiations with the CAA have resulted in a substantially increased NEQ capacity from 4,000 to 11,000 KGs.

PASSENGERS
In 1992 Glasgow Prestwick had no scheduled passengers. The new owners achieved their first success when a local travel agent, King World Travel, started a charter to the Channel Islands one Saturday during the Summer of 1993. The Irish airline, Ryanair followed with low cost air services to Dublin in May 1994. Holiday charters to Europe and North America commenced the same year. In May 1995, Gill Airways started flights to Belfast and in October of the same year, Ryanair introduced daily flights to London Stansted. In November 1998, Ryanair launched a daily direct service from Prestwick to Paris. In March 2000 Ryanair commenced flights to Frankfurt Hahn and in April 2001 began flying to Brussels Charleroi from Prestwick.

The total number of passengers travelling in 1992 was zero compared to the more than 900,000 in 2000. A major breakthrough came in 1997 with holiday flights to Palma and Ibiza. The airport now provides holiday flights to many destinations such as Florida, Majorca and Tenerife.

Glasgow Prestwick is now firmly established as a scheduled service airport to London, Dublin, Brussels, Frankfurt and Paris and is a fast growing holiday airport.

Reasons to fly from Glasgow's Prestwick Airport