Glasgow Airport
Airport Hotels, Airport Car Rental, Parking, Maps, Flights and Airport Information

Glasgow Airport

Glasgow Prestwick really is 'easier going' when it comes to passenger facilities. Our hassle free atmosphere offers passengers a more relaxed start to their journey.

The airport information desk is situated on the ground floor at the entrance to domestic arrivals and is open for all flights.

The airport is open 24 hours but the shops and bars are closed through the night and reopen again at 5am. The food village is open through the night for Tea/Coffee and cold snacks.

It was thought that the story of Glasgow Prestwick International Airport began around 1934 with a few small planes using 'the Meadows' at the end of Monkton Village. However, historians have now discovered evidence that aircraft were on or near the site around 1913, a mere 10 years after the Wright Brothers first took to the air.

In the pre-war years, the site developed as a training airfield. The pioneer, David McIntyre, set up Scottish Aviation Ltd in 1935 and acquired 348 acres of Ayrshire countryside just behind Orangefield House. By the end of that year, accommodation had been developed including a hangar for Tiger Moth bi-planes, offices, lecture rooms and a small control tower.

As WW II intervened, the site developed into a major airport particularly for the delivery of American aircraft under the Lend Lease programme. On some days up to 300 aircraft arrived for onward delivery! At this time, training gave way to aircraft production undertaken by Scottish Aviation Ltd. Many famous aircraft types were built at Prestwick until production of the BAe Jetstream ceased in 1998. The original factory was expanded out of all recognition when in 1941, the Palace of Engineering, built in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow for the 1938 Empire Exhibition was taken down and rebuilt brick by brick at Prestwick. This magnificent building, an excellent example of Art Deco architecture survives today under the ownership of BAe Systems and can be seen on the North side of the airport directly opposite the terminal.

HOTELS   (Click Here)
Where to stay? International Airport Guide offers discounted rates on Glasgow Airport Hotels. We have negotiated rates offering 45% off hotel rack rates. All hotels are quality rated through AAA or Mobil Travel Guide, the industry's most trusted sources.

Our special consortium rates with local airport hotels will ensure that you are receiving the lowest rates on Airport Hotels near Glasgow Airport.

Airport Facts

Glasgow International Airport (IATA: GLA, ICAO: EGPF) (sometimes referred to as Glasgow Abbotsinch International Airport), located 13 km (8 miles) west of Glasgow, near the towns of Paisley and Renfrew, is the largest international airport in Scotland, and number five in the UK.

The airport is owned by BAA plc, which also owns London Heathrow Airport, London Gatwick Airport, London Stansted Airport, Edinburgh Airport, Aberdeen Airport and Southampton Airport.

History
The history of Glasgow Airport goes back to 1932, when the current site at Abbotsinch was used as an overspill airfield for the adjacent RAF base. The original site of Glasgow's "main" airport was 3 km (2 miles) east, in what is now the Dean Park area of Renfrew. The original Art Deco terminal building of Renfrew Airport has not survived, the site now being occupied by a Tesco supermarket and the M8 motorway.

In the 1960s, Glasgow Corporation decided that a new airport for the city be constructed at nearby Abbotsinch. It was a controversial plan, as central government had already committed millions into rebuilding Prestwick Airport fit for the "jet age". Nevertheless, the plan went forward and the new airport, designed by Basil Spence, was completed in 1966, with British European Airways beginning services using De Havilland Comet aircraft. The political rows over Glasgow and Prestwick airports continued, with Prestwick enjoying a monopoly over transatlantic traffic, while Glasgow was only allowed to handle domestic and intra-European traffic.

In 1975, the BAA took ownership of Glasgow Airport, and when BAA was privatised in the late 1980s, it had a serious cull of its airport portfolio. Conveniently, the restrictions on Glasgow were lifted, and the transatlantic operators immediately moved from Prestwick. BAA then sold Prestwick off, and embarked on a massive redevelopment plan in 1990.