Prestwick Airport Logo

The airport offers functional and flexible passenger facilities, first class customer service, a range of options for onward connections, a one stop shop for aviation and handling services, a track record of reliability and access to a catchment that makes in excess of 1.6 million trips per year.

Get in touch to find out more about what we can do to help you meet your business goals and how we can work in partnership to launch new services and see them through to maturity, paving the way to future growth.

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A Well-Connected Location

Glasgow Prestwick Airport is located in Ayrshire on Scotland’s beautiful west coast. The airport is close to several towns, including Prestwick, Ayr, Troon, Irvine, and Kilmarnock. It’s also within easy reach of the countryside, historic castles, the coast, and Scotland’s western islands, as well as Glasgow, the country’s largest city.

Glasgow is just 30 miles northeast of the airport and can be reached easily by road or rail, with regular connections directly from the airport.

A Strong Catchment Area

Glasgow Prestwick Airport serves a large catchment area, with 2.2 million people living within a 60-minute drive and 4 million within a 120-minute drive. The airport’s integrated railway station also links directly to Glasgow, Edinburgh, and other major towns across Scotland’s central belt, giving passengers easy access.

Scots have a high tendency to travel, second only to London in the UK, presenting a strong market for outbound travel. With these competitive advantages, Glasgow Prestwick Airport is an ideal hub for passenger airlines seeking to tap into a growing, well-connected, and travel-oriented population.

prestwick-airport-connections

  • Connectivity
  • Reliability
  • Facilities
  • Airport Operations
Connectivity

Connectivity

Glasgow Prestwick has the best surface transport links of any Scottish airport.

Road

Glasgow Prestwick Airport connects with the UK motorway network via the A77 on to the M77. 
Using this motorway, you can be in Glasgow in 40 minutes and in the country’s capital city – Edinburgh – in just over 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Rail

Situated on the Glasgow Central to Ayr railway line, Glasgow Prestwick Airport is served by its own railway station which is accessible by a short covered walkway to/from the airport terminal building.

There are two trains an hour to both Ayr and Glasgow Central Station. The journey from Glasgow Central Station takes about 40 minutes, and to Ayr, it takes about 10 minutes. From Glasgow, passengers can easily connect to destinations across Scotland, including Edinburgh. This makes travel beyond the airport’s local area simple and convenient, offering seamless connections to major cities and towns throughout the country.

Bus

The airport is serviced by a number of commercial services that operate along the A79. This includes the X77 service linking Ayr and Glasgow which operates between the hours of 06:25 and 22:40 and runs every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday and hourly on a Sunday. The journey time is approximately 50 Minutes.

Ferry

The airport is ideally located for connections onward to the Kintyre Peninsula, the west coast islands and Northern Ireland with a number of ferry ports within 1 hour 30 minutes’ drive.

Ferry Terminal Destinations
Ardrossan Arran and Campbeltown
Largs Millport
Wemyss Bay Rothesay (Isle of Bute)
Cairnryan Belfast
Reliability

Reliability

Glasgow Prestwick Airport has a long track record of having favourable weather conditions – making it one of the most reliable airports in the United Kingdom.

It is famously referred to as the ‘fog free airport’.

Met Office data shows that the average annual incidence of cloud base below 1500 ft is at 10.4%.

Prestwick is afforded protection by peripheral land masses and high ground on four quadrants, which strips out moisture at low levels.

This reliability has led to Glasgow Prestwick Airport regularly being utilised as a key diversion airport within the UK.

Facilities

Facilities

Glasgow Prestwick Airport offers all of the facilities and services that would be expected of a modern international airport.

Airfield

Glasgow Prestwick Airport’s airfield operates 24 hours a day and has no curfews, noise restrictions or slot constraints.

We offer access to two major runways 2,986M (12/30) and 1,905M (02/20) – one of which is the longest commercial runway north of Manchester Airport.

  • Category 1 instrument runway 12/30 with centre line lighting and visual runway 02/20.
  • NDB / DME – ILS / DME approaches available.
  • 24 hour RFFS Category 7 (upgrades to 8/9 available at short notice).
  • Ample areas available for aircraft parking.

Car Parking

There are three main car parks all within walking distance to the passenger terminal building. This offer includes Car Parks one and Two directly in front of the airport’s terminal building and Car Park three which is a pre-bookable carpark connected to the airport via a covered overpass

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Terminal Building

The terminal building can accommodate up to 2.5 million passengers.

It includes a large check-in area, with ample check-in desks and a dedicated passenger assistance desk.

Catering and Retail

Catering and retail facilities are on offer both landside and airside. This includes bars, restaurants, newsagents and duty-free shopping.

Airport Operations

Airport Operations

Glasgow Prestwick Airport manages its aviation services in-house, except for maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO). This approach offers substantial time and cost savings for our airline customers.

Passenger Handling

Glasgow Prestwick Airport provides a full range of ground handling services, including:

  • Ticketing
  • Check-in
  • Assistance for passengers with reduced mobility
  • Load control
  • Aircraft loading and unloading
  • Cabin cleaning
  • Toilet and water services
  • Aircraft ground power and start-up
  • De-icing
  • Pushback and towing
  • Customer services
  • Lost & found
  • Chartered flights
  • Meet & greet
  • Executive services
  • Secure cleaning

Fuelling

We provide in-house aircraft fuelling services, offering JETA1 and AVGAS 100LL. Our team is available 24/7, and we can also supply anti-icing fuel additives on request.

We accept all major credit and debit cards, as well as key fuel carnets such as World Fuels, Colt, Multiservice, AVCARD, AVFUEL, AEG Fuels, and AIR BP Sterling. Please contact us for the latest prices.

Security Services

Our dedicated in-house security team operates around the clock, providing airport-wide security services. The operation can be scaled up as needed.

Security services include:

  • Passenger profiling
  • Passenger and crew screening, using full-body scanners and the latest technology
  • Hold baggage screening
  • ID centre management
  • CCTV monitoring
  • Section 5 weapons handling
  • Cargo security
  • Engineering base and hangar security
  • Access control
  • Vehicle screening

Air Traffic Control Services

Glasgow Prestwick Airport manages air traffic services for all airspace up to 6,000 feet and within 42 nautical miles of the airport, handling 22,924 flights annually.

We provide 24-hour radar services and collaborate closely with handling and dispatch teams to ensure flights run on schedule. Our clear airspace also makes us ideal for training and circuits, which our air traffic controllers are experienced in supporting.

Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO)

MRO has seen significant growth in the Scottish aviation industry, particularly around Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Key companies in the area include:

  • GE Caledonian
  • Spirit AeroSystems
  • Collins Aerospace
  • Ryanair (Prestwick Aircraft Maintenance)
  • BAE Systems
  • Woodward Aircraft Engine Systems
  • Storm

We also offer additional hangar space and development land suitable for MRO facilities.

Published Charges

Please find details of our conditions of use and our standard charges for our services in the documents linked to below.