Glasgow Prestwick Airport (), commonly referred to as Prestwick Airport, is an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

serving the west of Scotland, situated northeast of the town of Prestwick, and southwest of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland. It is the less busy of the two airports serving the western part of Scotland's

Central Belt The Central Belt of Scotland is the Demographics of Scotland, area of highest population density within Scotland. Depending on the definition used, it has a population of between 2.4 and 4.2 million (the country's total was around 5.4 million in ...

, after Glasgow Airport in

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...

, within the

Greater Glasgow Greater Glasgow is an urban settlement in Scotland consisting of all localities which are physically attached to the city of Glasgow, forming with it a single contiguous urban area (or conurbation). It does not relate to municipal government ...

conurbation. The airport serves the urban cluster surrounding Ayr, including

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

, Irvine,

Ardrossan Ardrossan (; ) is a town on the North Ayrshire coast in southwestern Scotland. The town has a population of 10,670 and forms part of a conurbation with Saltcoats and Stevenston known as the 'Three Towns#Scotland, Three Towns'. Ardrossan is loca ...

Troon Troon (Scottish Gaelic: ''An Truthail'') is a town and sea port in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with ferry and freight serv ...

Saltcoats Saltcoats (; Scots: ''Saulcuts'') is a town on the west coast of North Ayrshire, Scotland. The name is derived from the town's earliest industry when salt was harvested from the sea water of the Firth of Clyde, carried out in small cottages ...

, Stevenston,

Kilwinning Kilwinning (, ; ) is a town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located on the banks of the River Garnock in Ayrshire, west/central Scotland, about southwest of Glasgow. Kilwinning's neighbours are the coastal towns of Stevenston to the west an ...

, and Prestwick itself. Glasgow Prestwick is Scotland's fifth-busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic, although it is the largest in terms of land area. Passenger traffic peaked at 2.4 million in 2007 following a decade of rapid growth, driven in part by the boom in

low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...

s, particularly

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...

, which uses the airport as an operating base. In recent years, passenger traffic has declined; around 670,000passengers passed through the airport in 2016. There has been much public debate and speculation over the association of the airport with Glasgow due to the fact Prestwick and Glasgow are considerably far apart. Calls have been made for the airport to be renamed Robert Burns International Airport, however, this was ruled out by the Scottish Government in 2014. Prestwick has also had a long historical connection with

transatlantic flight A transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe, Africa, South Asia, or the Middle East to North America, South America, or ''vice versa''. Such flights have been made by fixed-wing aircraft, airships, bal ...

, being part of the Atlantic Bridge route between Europe and North America, and remains an important airport for both the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

and

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

, who use it as a refuelling stop, and in the case of the former the favoured airport used by

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control-designated Aviation call signs, call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. The term is commonly used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modifie ...

whenever the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

is visiting Scotland. The operations centre of Shanwick Oceanic Control is located close to the airport, which controls all air traffic on the north eastern quadrant of the

North Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, including Scottish airspace (Scottish Area Control Centre), as well as the airspace over much of the north of England, the Midlands and north Wales (Manchester Area Control Centre).

Early history

Origins and passenger facilities

Passenger facilities were added in 1938. These were used until further investment made Prestwick compatible with jet transportation. The October 1946 USAAF diagram shows a runway 14/32, with a runway 8/26 crossing just west of its midpoint. In 1958, runway 13/31 was long; in May 1960, the runway's extension to opened. A parallel

taxiway A taxiway is a path for aircraft at an airport connecting runways with Airport apron, aprons, hangars, Airport terminal, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have a hard surface such as Asphalt concrete, asphalt or concrete, although sma ...

, link road and an all-new terminal building were opened by the

Queen Mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the monarch, reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also ...

in 1964. The extension of runway 13/31 caused considerable disruption to road users, for the main road from Monkton into Prestwick now crossed the tarmac of the runway. This was controlled by a "level crossing" system until a new perimeter road was completed.

Military use

In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the RAF controlled trans-Atlantic flights from Prestwick. Until February 2016, part of the Prestwick site was occupied by the Royal Navy

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...

with RNAS Prestwick, officially known by the Royal Navy as HMS ''Gannet'', where a detachment of three Sea Kings provided a

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

role, covering one of the largest SAR areas of the UK including Ben Nevis, the Lakes, Northern Ireland and past the Irish coast. Additionally, Gannet SAR provided a medical evacuation service to the Scottish island communities. Personnel at the base numbered 15 officers, 11 ratings, 28 civil servants and 50 civilian staff. The crews regularly featured as part of the popular Channel 5 documentary series '' Highland Emergency''. In 2009, the unit broke a new record as they were tasked to 447 call-outs, 20% of the UK's total military SAR call outs for 2009 and making them, for the second year in succession, the busiest search and rescue base in the UK. There was controversy over the airport's use in the CIA's

extraordinary rendition Extraordinary rendition is a euphemism, euphemistically-named policy of state-sponsored abduction in a foreign jurisdiction and transfer to a third state. The best-known use of extraordinary rendition is in a United States-led program during th ...

flights, as aircraft had used the airport as a stop-over point. Since November 2013, when the Scottish government took control of the facility, service contracts have been established with the

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, USN, USMC,

Defense Logistics Agency The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is a combat support agency in the United States Department of Defense, United States Department of Defense (DoD). The agency is staffed by more than 26,000 civilian and military personnel throughout the world. ...

and

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

. Glasgow Prestwick Airport is the only place in the United Kingdom where

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

(who had distant Scottish ancestry) was known to have set foot, when the

transport plane carrying him home to the United States stopped to refuel in 1960, en route from West Germany. However, on 21 April 2008, during a

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

interview with Ken Bruce, theatre impresario and chairman of Everton FC, Bill Kenwright, said that Elvis actually spent a day in the UK being shown around London by

Tommy Steele Sir Thomas Hicks (born 17 December 1936), known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star. After being discovered at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, London, Steele recor ...

in 1958.

Commercial use

In 1945, American Overseas Airlines began regular transatlantic commercial flights began between Prestwick and New York. AOA was later acquired by

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...

, which used Prestwick as a stop between Europe and North America into the 1970s. BOAC also used Prestwick as a stop between London and New York in the late 1940s and 1950s. In the 1980s, Prestwick continued to see scheduled transatlantic flights by

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...

and

Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines (often abbreviated as NWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 until it Delta Air Lines–Northwest Airlines merger, merged with Delta Air Lines in 2010. The merger made Delta the largest airline ...

. These carriers both moved their operations to Glasgow Airport after government restrictions were lifted in 1990. Until 1990, the British government required all transatlantic flights to and from Scotland to use Prestwick.

Recent history

1990s

1992 marked the beginning of a renaissance for the struggling airport when purchased by "Canadian entrepreneur" Matthew Hudson in a "dramatic rescue". Hudson initiated the construction of the airport's

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

on the existing Ayrshire Coast Line (Glasgow–Ayr), which runs past the airfield, making it the first Scottish airport with its own railway station. In her book about Prestwick Airport, South Ayrshire councillor Ann Galbraith writes about this tough time in the airport's history, saying that "if it hadn't been for Matthew Hudson the airport wouldn't be here today". In 1994, Irish budget airline

opened a route to the airport from

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, followed by a second route in 1995 to London Stansted. In 1998, a third route to Paris-Beauvais was introduced and the airport was sold by Hudson to the Scottish transport company

Stagecoach Group Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses and express coaches in the United Kingdom. Stagecoach was originally founded in 1976 as ''Gloagtrotter'', a recreational vehicle and minibus hire business. Dur ...

2000s

In 2001, the airport was purchased by

Infratil Infratil Limited is a New Zealand–based infrastructure investment company. It owns renewable energy, digital infrastructure, airports, and healthcare assets with operations in New Zealand, Australia, Asia, the US and Europe. Infratil was foun ...

, a New Zealand company and majority owner of Wellington International Airport. Infratil also owned

Manston Airport Manston Airport is a British airport. Originally operated as RAF Manston, from 1916, it has also operated as a commercial airport and was known as Kent International Airport and, briefly, London Manston Airport. It has been closed since 2014. ...

until November 2013. Manston was sold to a shell company owned by Ann Gloag, a co-founder of

Stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

, Prestwick's previous owner. In April 2005, Infratil completed a major refurbishment of the terminal building, and

rebranded Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors ...

the airport using the phrase "pure dead brilliant", taken straight from the

Glasgow patter The Glasgow dialect, also called Glaswegian, varies from Scottish English at one end of a bipolar linguistic continuum to the local dialect of West Central Scots at the other. Therefore, the speech of many Glaswegians can draw on a "continuum b ...

. Some of the rebranding has been controversial, in particular the redecoration of the airport bar. The bar was rebranded in February 2006 with a logo depicting a man in a

kilt A kilt ( ) is a garment resembling a wrap-around knee-length skirt, made of twill-woven worsted wool with heavy pleats at the sides and back and traditionally a tartan pattern. Originating in the Scottish Highland dress for men, it is first r ...

, unconscious with an empty bottle of

whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

. Despite objections that it promoted the wrong image of Scotland to foreign visitors and embarrassed local travellers, the airport management insisted the logo was "fun and visually stimulating". However, it was removed a matter of weeks after installation, after the South Ayrshire Licensing Board said the logo trivialised excessive drinking. The "pure dead brilliant" branding was removed from the main terminal building in January 2014. 2002-04-Flughafen-Glasgow-Prestwick

Since 2007, the airport has occasionally been used by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

TV programme '' Top Gear'' as the location for various stunts and experiments. The best-known stunt was a scene similar to one featured in the film '' Casino Royale'' and featured both a

Ford Mondeo The Ford Mondeo is a Mid-size/large family car, large (D-segment) car manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company, Ford since 1993 across five generations for model years 1993-2022. As Ford self-declared world car, the Mondeo was intended to ...

and a

Citroën 2CV The Citroën 2CV (, , lit. "two horses", meaning "two Tax horsepower#France, ''taxable'' horsepower") is an economy car produced by the French company Citroën from 1948 to 1990. Introduced at the 1948 Paris Paris Auto Show, Salon de l'Automobi ...

parked behind the engines of a

Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, West Sussex, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic A ...

Boeing 747-400, in an experiment to investigate whether the thrust from the aircraft's four jet engines really could lift a car off the ground. The car park and A79 outside the terminal building have been reconstructed to comply with

governmental A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

movement and access restrictions mandated in the aftermath of the Glasgow International Airport terrorist attack. According to a 2008 Master Plan, the departure lounge is at capacity and congested during peak operations. The plan proposes "a central pier that provides adequate circulation and waiting space prior to boarding the aircraft" to cope with a continuing increase in passenger departures.

2010s

In 2010, NATS, the organisation responsible for en-route air traffic control services to flights within the UK flight information regions, consolidated its air traffic control operations from four facilities to two. The 86,000 square feet (8,000 square metre) operations room at Prestwick is solely responsible for all aircraft flying over Scottish aerospace (Scottish Area Control Centre), which includes all aircraft over Scotland,

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, the

North of England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire. Officially, it is a gr ...

as well as over the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

from 2,500 feet up to 66,000 feet. In addition to being responsible for aircraft over Scottish aerospace as defined by the Scottish Area Control Centre, Prestwick is also responsible for the aerospace over much of the north of England, the

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

and north

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

from 2,500 feet up to 28,500 feet (Manchester Area Control Centre). Its Oceanic Area Control Centre controls the aerospace over the eastern half of the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

to a designated boundary in place with

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. With a responsibility of aerospace covering , the operations centre at Prestwick has the largest area of aerospace responsibility in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, handing 42% of the total aircraft movement across the United Kingdom. On 8 March 2012, the airport owner Infratil announced that it planned to sell the airfield. The airport remained unsold until October 2013 when the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

announced it was in negotiations to take the airport back into

public ownership State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed t ...

. Subsequently, the Scottish Government bought the airport on 22 November 2013 for £1, Infratil having incurred annual losses of £2,000,000. No job losses were anticipated after the government takeover. Then- Deputy First Minister

Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2014 to 2023. She has served as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) sin ...

told

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

that work would then begin on "turning Prestwick around and making it a viable enterprise". On 1 April 2014, the public petition committee at Holyrood heard that ''The Robert Burns World Federation'' wished to rename the airport to

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

International Airport. In June 2014, Ryanair announced the relocation of some routes from Prestwick to Glasgow International Airport by October 2014; included among them were flights to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and

. In November 2014

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

signed a partnership agreement with Prestwick making it the Scottish base for all Trump Aviation Operations, in order to service his Trump Turnberry golf resort away. As part of the privatisation of the UK's search and rescue service, Bristow Helicopters based two Sikorsky S-92 helicopters in a new hangar at HMS ''Gannet''. The handover took place in January 2016. In March 2016, the airport revealed new branding and a new look to the inside and outside of the airport building. NS3527 - Prestwick Airport

In 2015, Glasgow Prestwick Airport was shortlisted as a potential UK

Spaceport A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an airport for aircraft. The word ''spaceport''—and even more so ''cosmodrome''—has traditionally referred to sites capable of ...

, as part of the British commercial spaceport competition. In June 2019, the Scottish government announced that it was putting the airport up for sale. Bidders would be expected to commit to maintaining and developing aviation operations and employment.

2020s

In February 2021, the Scottish government announced that a preferred bidder had been selected to buy the airport. The unnamed bidder was believed to be a European transport infrastructure investor. However, the Scottish government announced in December 2021 that the bid had been rejected, and that the sale would not proceed. The airport would consequently remain in public ownership, but the government stated it was committed to "returning it to the private sector at the appropriate time and opportunity." , no private investor has been found yet but there was ongoing debate if the airport is financially viable or will require further loans from the government.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled services to and from Glasgow–Prestwick:

Cargo

{{Airport destination list , {{nowrap,

Air China Cargo Air China Cargo Co., Ltd. ( zh, s=中国国际货运航空公司, t=中國國際貨運航空公司, p=Zhōngguó Guójì Huòyùn Hángkōng gōngsī) is a cargo airline of the People's Republic of China with its headquarters in Shunyi District ...

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, {{nowrap, Air France Cargo , Chicago–O'Hare, Paris–Charles de Gaulle , {{nowrap, Cargolux , Houston–Intercontinental,

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, Seattle/Tacoma , {{nowrap, China Southern Cargo ,

Statistics

Passengers

{, class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" style="text-align: center; width:300px;" align="center" , + , - ! style="width:75px" , ! style="width:100px" , Number of passengersNumber of passengers including domestic, international and transit counterparts ! style="width:125px" , Number of movementsNumber of movements represents total aircraft takeoffs and landings during each year. ! style="width:100px" , Freight
(tonnes) , - ! 1997 , 567,000 , , 63,166 , , 33,874 , - ! 1998 , 558,000 , , 54,166 , , 39,600 , - ! 1999 , 702,000 , , 54,093 , , 40,845 , - ! 2000 , 905,000 , , 44,940 , , 41,450 , - ! 2001 , 1,232,000 , , 48,144 , , 43,104 , - ! 2002 , 1,486,000 , , 43,190 , , 39,500 , - ! 2003 , 1,854,000 , , 57,099 , , 39,975 , - ! 2004 , 2,159,000 , , 55,998 , , 34,102 , - ! 2005 , 2,405,000 , , 54,996 , , 29,199 , - ! 2006 , 2,395,000 , , 48,189 , , 28,537 , - ! 2007 , 2,421,000 , , 47,910 , , 31,517 , - ! 2008 , 2,415,755 , , 42,708 , , 22,966 , - ! 2009 , 1,817,727 , , 34,230 , , 13,385 , - ! 2010 , 1,662,744 , , 33,087 , , 12,163 , - ! 2011 , 1,297,119 , , 28,131 , , 11,846 , - ! 2012 , 1,067,933 , , 25,670 , , 10,314 , - !2013 , 1,145,836 , , 24,305 , , 9,526 , - !2014 , 913,685 , , 25,643 , , 12,540 , - !2015 , 610,837 , , 22,765 , , 11,242 , - !2016 , 673,232 , , 25,714 , , 10,822 , - !2017 , 696,309 , , 24,897 , , 11,393 , - !2018 , 681,718 , , 24,904, , 13,033 , - !2019 , 640,455 , , 24,463, , 13,054 , - !2020 , 90,790 , , 14,085 , , 12,049 , - !2021 , 78,069 , , 17,126 , , 16,209 , - !2022 , 445,211 , , 19,034 , , 15,298 , - !2023 , 524,880 , 24,471 , 10,673 , - !2024 , 535,570 , 22,615 , 9,515 , - class="sortbottom" , colspan="5" align="right" , ''Source
United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority
'

Routes

{, class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" style="font-size: 100%" , + Busiest routes to and from Glasgow Prestwick (2024) , - ! Rank , , Airport , , Total
passengers , , Change
2023 / 24 , - , 1, , Tenerife–South , , align='right', 112,404, , {{increase 15% , - , 2, ,

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

, , align='right', 94,581 , , {{increase 11% , - , 3, ,

Palma de Mallorca Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...

, , align="right" , 62,754 , , {{decrease 2% , - , 4, ,

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

, , align="right" , 61,975 , , {{decrease 10% , - , 5, ,

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, , align="right" , 47,718 , , {{increase 42% , - , 5, , Faro, , align="right" , 41,118 , , {{decrease 19% , - , 6, ,

Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands, off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the islands in the archipelago. With 163,230 inhabi ...

, , align="right" , 37,824 , , {{increase 9% , - , 9, ,

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

, , align="right" , 32,098 , , {{increase 47% , - , 8, ,

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, a Spain, Spanish archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa. the island had a population of that constitut ...

, , align="right" , 20,841 , , {{decrease 27% , - , 10, ,

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

, , align='right', 19,673 , , {{decrease 2%

Scottish International Airshow

Prestwick Airport used to host a bi-annual

Air show An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are trade fair, exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without which they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The ...

, the first of which was held on 30 September 1967. While very small in scale compared to such shows as RAF Fairford or Farnborough International Airshow, the Scottish air show attracted up to 100,000 spectators to Prestwick in its heyday in the 1980s.{{cite news , url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-29100593 , title=Thousands welcome return of Scottish Airshow to Ayrshire , website=BBC News , date=7 September 2014 , access-date=13 December 2014 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021043555/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-29100593 , archive-date=21 October 2014 , url-status=dead The revived Scottish International Airshow was brought back by 3 Ayrshire aviation and events professionals Danny Anderson, Bob Alexander (2014 and 2015) and Doug Maclean. The events company Zisys Events shouldered the organisation burden and financial risk. It was restarted on 6 and 7 September 2014; an air display was held at the Low green at Ayr Seafront and a static display on 7 September at the airport. The event included appearances by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, including the only two flying Avro Lancaster bombers, and the last airworthy Avro Vulcan bomber, famous for being part of the UK's Nuclear "V Force" bomber fleet. The second Scottish Airshow was held on 5 and 6 September 2015. Danny Anderson and Doug Maclean were innovative in their ideas for displays. The 2016 Scottish International Airshow included the first night display in Scotland. It started with the RAF Typhoon doing a first dusk display and ended with the Aerosparx Formation Team flying in darkness and discharging pyrotechnics from the aircraft wing tips. Between 2014 and 2018 the Scottish International Airshow continued to develop and brought very respected formation teams and vintage aircraft and modern fighter jets from Denmark, Belgium The Netherlands, Ireland and Switzerland as well as the highly unusual Swiss Vintage Formation of 3 Beech 18s and a DC3 flying together in a unique display. The attendances continued to rise each year with over 200,000 people reported to attend over 2 days in 2018. The 2019 Airshow was planned to highlight the return to Prestwick of the CF104 Starfighter from Norway and a Spanish Air Force helicopter formation. It was also intended to include a static aircraft display at Glasgow Prestwick Airport. The show was cancelled at an early stage due to a dispute between the organisers and the local Council and the withdrawal of financial support by the Council. The 2020 Covid pandemic meant that there was no display planned. It was announced that the airshow would return for 2023, organised by South Ayrshire Council and rebranded as The International Ayrshow - Festival Of Flight beginning on the weekend of 8 September 2023.

Incidents and accidents

*On 28 August 1944, a

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

Douglas C54A Skymaster flying from

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

via Keflavik crashed into houses on the south side of the airport while attempting to land. All 20 crew and passengers as well as five people on the ground were killed. * On 20 October 1948, a Lockheed L-049 Constellation of KLM crashed on approach to Prestwick; all 40 aboard died. *Early on 25 December 1954, at 03:30, the 1954 Prestwick air disaster involved a

British Overseas Airways Corporation British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the United Kingdom, British state-owned national airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II ...

Boeing 377 Stratocruiser which crashed on landing at Prestwick, killing 28 of the 36 passengers and crew on board. The aircraft had been en route from London to New York City, when, on approach to Prestwick, it entered a steep descent before levelling out too late and too severely, hitting the ground short of the runway. The crash has been attributed to a number of factors, including pilot fatigue (the captain was well over his duty limit due to the aircraft being delayed); the landing lights at Prestwick being out of action due to repair; and the first officer either not hearing a command from the captain for landing lights (which might have helped judge the low cloud base) or mistakenly hitting the flaps, causing the aircraft to stall. *On 3 November 1973, Pan Am 160 crashed at

Logan International Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport — also known as Boston Logan International Airport — is an international airport located mostly in East Boston and partially in Winthrop, Massachusetts, United States. Covering , it has ...

following a loss of control due to smoke; the aircraft was meant to stop over at Prestwick. *On 17 March 1977, a British Airtours Boeing 707 crashed during a pilot training flight and caught fire. All four crew on board survived. *On 6 October 1992, a BAe Jetstream 31 operated by

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft manufacturer, aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. ...

on a training flight to East Midlands Airport crashed shortly after takeoff at Prestwick after simulating an engine failure. Both occupants were killed. *On 15 June 2013, an Egyptair flight from Cairo bound for New York–JFK was diverted to Prestwick Airport under RAF escort due to a note found on board threatening to 'set the plane on fire'. Roads surrounding the airport were closed as police dealt with the incident. *On 5 September 2015, during the Scottish International Airshow,

Avro Vulcan The Avro Vulcan (later Hawker Siddeley Vulcan from July 1963) was a jet-powered, tailless, delta-wing, high-altitude, strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A.V. Roe ...

bomber XH558 suffered an issue with its nosewheel. The nosewheel failed to extend properly and lock into place. Once the crew were made aware, a displaying

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...

was called upon to confirm whether the nosewheel was down and locked, to which they confirmed it wasn't extended properly. The crew finally were able to secure the nosewheel in a fully down position and made a successful landing on runway 30 with an extended

flare A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala, bengalo in several European countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illuminatio ...

. There were no injuries and the aircraft and crew made a safe return journey to their home base with the gear extended. *On the 28 October 2016, a

Volaris Volaris (legally ''Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación S.A.B. de C.V.'') is a Mexican low-cost airline based in Santa Fe, Mexico City, Santa Fe, Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City, Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City with its operating bases in Canc ...

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...

was diverted under RAF escort to Prestwick whilst on route to Keflavík International Airport following a loss of communications. There were only 7 crew onboard and some roads surrounding the airport were shut. *On 23 April 2024 a Piper PA-28-181 with two occupants crashed due to Carburetor icing near the airport.

Ground transport

Road

Glasgow Prestwick Airport connects with the UK motorway network via the A77 on to the M77. Using this motorway, you can be in

in 40 minutes and

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in just over 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Rail

{{main, Prestwick International Airport railway station Prestwick_International_Airport_railway_station_-_view_towards_Ayr_with_airport_link_overbridge

Prior to the opening of Inverness Airport railway station in 2023, Prestwick airport was the only airport in Scotland with its own railway station, Prestwick International Airport railway station, built by the airport in 1994. The station is connected to the terminal by an enclosed walkway over the A79 road, and platforms are accessed by stairs, escalators and lifts.{{cite web , url=http://www.scotlandontv.tv/scotland_on_tv/video.html?vxSiteId=60fdd544-9c52-4e17-be7e-57a2a2d76992&vxChannel=Visit%20Travel&vxClipId=1380_SMG1912&vxBitrate=300 , title=Online video detailing access to the rail services from the airport , website=Scotland on TV , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924202953/http://www.scotlandontv.tv/scotland_on_tv/video.html?vxSiteId=60fdd544-9c52-4e17-be7e-57a2a2d76992&vxChannel=Visit%20Travel&vxClipId=1380_SMG1912&vxBitrate=300 , archive-date=24 September 2008 The station building continues to be owned and operated by the airport, and not by

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...

ScotRail ScotRail Trains Limited, trading as ScotRail (), is a Scottish train operating company that is publicly owned by Scottish Rail Holdings on behalf of the Scottish Government. It has been operating the ScotRail franchise as an operator of las ...

. The track through the station itself remains the responsibility of Network Rail. Bus Prestwick International Airport is well-connected by bus services operated by Stagecoach West Scotland. From the airport, the following bus routes are available: # Service 4 #* Southbound: To Ayr via Prestwick Town. #* Northbound: To Glasgow, stopping at Monkton, Symington, Kilmarnock, Newton Mearns, Giffnock, Pollokshaws, and Shawlands. # Service X77 #* Southbound: To Ayr via Prestwick Town. #* Northbound (Express): To Glasgow, with a stop at Kilmarnock (available during night hours only). # Service 14 #* Southbound: To Ayr via Prestwick Town, extending to Ayr Bus Station and Ayr Hospital. #* Northbound: To Troon, Loans, and Irvine. # Service 585 #* Southbound: To Ayr via Prestwick Town. #* Northbound: To Largs, stopping at Irvine, Stevenston, Saltcoats, Ardrossan, and West Kilbride.

Fares and Concessions

* Free Travel: Passengers holding a Scottish National Entitlement Card can travel free of charge on all these services. * Ticket Purchase: Regular bus fares can be purchased from the driver upon boarding. These services ensure convenient connections between Prestwick International Airport and the surrounding areas.

Notes

{{reflist, group=note

References

{{Reflist {{Air Force Historical Research Agency

External links

{{Commons category-inline
Official website
* {{NWS-current, EGPK * {{ASN, PIK
The 1938 Palace of Engineering
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