Glasgow Prestwick Airport

Wikipedia contributors · CC BY-SA · EN · 04/10/2026

Glasgow Prestwick Airport is an international airport serving the west of Scotland, situated 1 mi northeast of the town of Prestwick, and 32 mi southwest of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the less busy of the two airports serving the western part of Scotland's Central Belt, after Glasgow Airport in Renfrewshire, within the Greater Glasgow conurbation. The airport serves the urban cluster surrounding Ayr, including Kilmarnock, Irvine, Ardrossan, Troon, Saltcoats, Stevenston, Kilwinning, and Prestwick itself.

The airport is Scotland's fifth-busiest 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 carriers, particularly Ryanair, 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 public debate over the association of the airport with Glasgow, which is 32 mi away from the airport. As a result, suggestions 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 a long historical connection with transatlantic flight, being part of the Atlantic Bridge route between Europe and North America, and prior to 1990 it was the only Scottish airport permitted to host commercial transatlantic flights. It remains an important hub for the United States Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force, who use it as a refuelling stop. It is also used by major airlines for training and route proving for transatlantic operations. 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, including Scottish airspace (Scottish Area Control Centre), as well as the airspace over much of the north of England, the Midlands and the north of Wales. Several global aerospace companies, including Boeing (formerly Spirit AeroSystems), GE Aerospace and Collins Aerospace) have engineering facilities by the airfield.

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 6600 ft runway 14/32, with a 4500 ft runway 8/26 crossing just west of its midpoint. In 1958, runway 13/31 was 7000 ft long; in May 1960, the runway's extension to 9800 ft opened.

A parallel taxiway, link road and an all-new terminal building were opened by the Queen Mother 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 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 with RNAS Prestwick, officially known by the Royal Navy as HMS Gannet, where a detachment of three Sea Kings provided a search and rescue role, covering one of the largest SAR areas of the UK including Ben Nevis, the Lakes, Northern Ireland and 200 nmi 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 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, USN, USMC, Defense Logistics Agency and National Guard.

Glasgow Prestwick Airport is the only place in the United Kingdom where Elvis Presley (who had distant Scottish ancestry) was known to have set foot, when the United States Air Force 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 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 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, 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 and Northwest Airlines. 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 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 Ryanair opened a route to the airport from Dublin, 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.

2000s

In 2001, the airport was purchased by Infratil, a New Zealand company and majority owner of Wellington International Airport. Infratil also owned Manston Airport until November 2013. Manston was sold to a shell company owned by Ann Gloag, a co-founder of Stagecoach, Prestwick's previous owner. In April 2005, Infratil completed a major refurbishment of the terminal building, and rebranded the airport using the phrase "pure dead brilliant", taken straight from the Glasgow patter. 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, unconscious with an empty bottle of 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.

Since 2007, the airport has occasionally been used by the BBC 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 and a Citroën 2CV parked behind the engines of a Virgin Atlantic 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 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

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 announced it was in negotiations to take the airport back into public ownership. 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 told BBC Scotland 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 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 and Dublin.

In November 2014 Donald Trump signed a partnership agreement with Prestwick making it the Scottish base for all Trump Aviation Operations, to service his Trump Turnberry golf resort 20 mi 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.

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

In July 2018, then-president of the United States Donald Trump arrived at the airport after a meeting with Elizabeth II for a weekend "private visit".

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.

In July 2025, 47th president of the United States Donald Trump again visited the airport for a 5-day "private visit" to Turnberry and later on his Trump International Golf Links, Scotland where he opened a second course.

The airport has come under scrutiny by politicians and pressure groups due to its links with the Israeli Air Force and United States Air Force. This has led to a ban of all Israeli air force aircraft following the Gaza war. In January 2026, following the use of Prestwick Airport during the removal of the captain of the Marinera, which had been seized and anchored in the Moray Firth, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, Ross Greer, accused the First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, of "sitting on his hands" and allowing this to happen. Calls for a ban have increased since the start of the 2026 Iran war, including a protest at the airport.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

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

Cargo

Statistics

Passengers

Routes

Scottish International Airshow

Prestwick Airport used to host a bi-annual air show, 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.

The revived Scottish International Airshow was brought back by three 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.

Source and attribution

Adapted from “Glasgow Prestwick Airport” by English Wikipedia contributors. Main paragraphs and sections are retained; tables, reference markers and technical markup are omitted. This is an encyclopedic adaptation, not a personal review. Original revision and contributor history ↗. Text is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗. Check current visitor access, tickets and transport with the relevant operator.