Glasgow Prestwick International Airport (PIK)

About Glasgow Prestwick International Airport

Glasgow Prestwick International Airport or Prestwick as it is also known is located just north of the town of Prestwick in South Ayrshire. The airport lies 3 miles north of Ayr and 29 miles south west of Glasgow’s city centre. It is the UK’s 16th busiest airport and Scotland’s 4th busiest airport. In 2006 the airport handled more than 2.39 million passengers.

Parking at the Airport

Disabled passengers (blue badge holders) dropping off and picking up in the designated blue badge spaces in the Car Park directly opposite the Terminal building will be given up to 30 minutes free parking. Car Park tickets should be taken to the Car Park desk located in the arrivals hall in the Terminal Building. Customers will then be asked to produce their own blue badge before the ticket is validated. Parking over 30 minutes will be charged at the normal rate from entering the car park.
Terminal Short Stay parking is situated in a premium location right outside the terminal building and offers a free 5-minute period for dropping off and picking up passengers. This car park can be pre booked at a discounted rate.
Terminal Long Stay is perfect for stays of a few days. It is located close to the terminal, so transfers are not required. This car park can also be pre booked at a discounted rate.
Airport North – Long Stay is Prestwick’s economy long stay car park, which is ideal for stays of over 3 days. A regular bus shuttle service operates from the car park to the terminal. These buses now drop off in the public bus stops located on the A79. Passengers crossing to or from the far side should use the railway bridge located in the terminal building. This car park is offered only for passengers who book in advance on line or by telephone.

Facilities and Services

Glasgow Prestwick International Airport has services to 40 scheduled and charter destinations across Europe. It has one terminal with passenger facilities including airport information; car hire; cash machines; currency exchange; left luggage; prayer room; WiFi Internet access and facilities for passengers requiring special assistance.
The terminal building also offers a modest range of shops and restaurants including Starbucks; W H Smith and Yates.

Getting To The Airport

By road - Glasgow Prestwick Airport is situated close to Prestwick town centre and is accessible from the A79. Whether coming from the north or the south, the best way to approach Prestwick is by using the A77, which connects with the A79.
By train – The airport has its own station with regular train services to Glasgow Central station and a large number of onward connections including London Euston and Edinburgh Waverley.
By bus/coach - National Express provide services from throughout the UK to Buchanan Street in Glasgow’s city centre. From there, during the daytime the X77 bus service runs every half an hour and at night it is replaced by the X99/X100, which runs last thing at night and first thing in the morning.

History of Glasgow Prestwick International Airport

Historians have discovered evidence that aircraft were being flown at or near the site of today’s airport, in around 1913. Pioneer, David McIntyre, set up Scottish Aviation Ltd in 1935 and acquired 348 acres of Ayrshire countryside just behind the 17th Century, Orangefield House, to use as a training airfield. The site was soon developed and by the end of the year accommodation had been built including a hangar for Tiger Moth bi-planes, offices, lecture rooms and a small control tower.

During the Second World War the site developed into a major airport used particularly for the delivery of American aircraft under the Lend Lease programme. At this time, training gave way to aircraft production undertaken by Scottish Aviation Ltd. (Many famous aircraft types were built at Prestwick over the next six decades until production of the BAe Jetstream ceased in 1998.) Once the war was over Orangefield House, was used as a terminal building for the airport.

In 1958 the government announced plans for a new terminal building, freight building, runway extension, control tower and loop road around the airport. The loop road was required because the main road out of Prestwick towards Monkton passed across the airport’s runway. In September 1964, HRH Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, officially opened the present terminal building. Unfortunately the historic Orangefield House was demolished in 1966 to make way for a new parallel taxiway.

During the 1960s and 1970s Prestwick was known as the transatlantic gateway as it was the only Scottish airport that was allowed to operate transatlantic flights, because it has a much lower incidence of fog than any other airport in Great Britain due to a geological anomaly. This may well be the reason why the airport avoided total closure when it appeared that the British Airports Authority (BAA) were running down operations there in favour of the newly developed Glasgow International Airport, just 30 miles away. Prestwick’s fortunes were dealt another serious blow when British Airways ceased regular passenger operations from there in the late 1970s.
In 1991 the newly privatized BAA moved all transatlantic traffic departing from Scotland to Glasgow International Airport and Prestwick was sold off to the private sector. Passenger figures fell sharply and it was only freight traffic and a small amount of charter flights that saved the airport from closure. However a few years later the airport’s new management decided to build its own rail station on the existing Glasgow-Ayr line which runs adjacent to the airport. Soon after, Irish budget airline Ryanair opened up a route from Prestwick to Dublin and one to London a year later.

The growth of European “no-frills” airlines has given Prestwick a new lease of life and it is now even larger in traffic terms than when it was under state ownership. In April 2005 a major £3m refurbishment of the terminal building was completed and Infratil, the current owners renamed the airport, Glasgow Prestwick International Airport.