Glasgow Prestwick International Airport (PIK)

Introduction

Glasgow Prestwick International Airport is Glasgow’s second airport. Around 2 million passengers are handled by Glasgow Prestwick International Airport every year. Located north of the town of Prestwick, South Ayrshire and just 29 miles away from Glasgow City centre, Glasgow Prestwick International Airport is Scotland’s 4th busiest airport.

Facilities and Services

Glasgow Prestwick International Airport can offer its passengers flights to 30 scheduled destinations including domestic; and European services.
Glasgow Prestwick International Airport has one terminal that provides passengers with a departure lounge containing a small range of retail and catering outlets. Glasgow Prestwick International Airport also has currency exchange facilities, car hire representatives and information desks for arriving passengers needs.

Getting To The Airport

Glasgow Prestwick Airport is accessible from the A79 if you are travelling by car. Whether coming from the north or the south, the best way to approach Prestwick is using the A77, from which there are turnings for the A79.
There are regular train services from Glasgow central station to the airport and a large number of onward connections are available from the station, including London Euston and Edinburgh Waverley.
If wishing to travel by coach, National Express provide services from throughout the UK to Buchanan Street in Glasgow 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, which runs last thing at night and first thing in the morning. services drop off at various locations in the city centre including Glasgow Central and Queen Street railway stations and Buchanan bus station.

Parking at the Airport

The short stay car parks are positioned at a convenient short distance from the terminal building. The Long Stay car park is a short shuttle bus ride from the terminal. Shuttles run every 15 minutes.
In order to make a booking to secure a space at any of these pre-bookable car parks at Glasgow Prestwick International Airport via carparkinguk.co.uk.

History of Glasgow Prestwick International Airport

Prestwick Airport was built, primarily as a training airfield in 1934. With the onset of World War II, the airport was developed rapidly in order to handle the large volume of American aircraft traffic. Passenger facilities were added in 1938 and they were used after the war until further development of the airport happened in the early 1960s. The Queen Mother opened a runway extension, taxiway, link road and a brand new terminal building in 1964.

In 1991, the newly privatized BAA decided to move all transatlantic traffic departing from Scotland to Glasgow 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.

The mid 1990s saw the start of a renaissance for the failing airport. It decided to build its own railway station on the existing Glasgow-Ayr line which runs straight past the airport. Soon after, Irish budget airline Ryanair opened up a route from Prestwick to Dublin and one to London the following year. The resulting growth explosion of European “no-frills” airlines has seen Prestwick grow even larger in traffic terms than when under state ownership. In April 2005 a major £3m refurbishment of the terminal building was completed and its current owners Infratil rebranded the airport, now being called Glasgow Prestwick International Airport.