Glasgow Airport Parking - Airport History
Please find below a brief history of Glasgow Airport which we hope that you will find useful. If you wish to make a booking then please click on the appropriate link on your left. Alternatively you can call our office, where one of our helpful staff will only be happy to help.
Glasgow Airport is the busiest of Scotland's three main international airports. Today's traveling public expects more, so at Glasgow they have invested heavily in brand new Shopping and eating facilities. Works commenced in July 2002 and are expected to be complete by April 2003. It was thought that the story of Glasgow Prestwick International Airport began around 1934. 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.
The pioneer, David McIntyre, set up Scottish Aviation Ltd in 1935 and acquired 348 acres of Ayrshire countryside. By the end of that year, accommodation had been developed including a hanger, offices, lecture rooms and a small control tower.
- Number of terminals: 1
- Number of passengers: 7.3 million
- Number of airlines: over 40
- Number of destinations: approximately 80
- Number of runways: 2
As World War II intervened, the site developed into a major airport mainly used for the delivery of American aircraft under the lend lease programme, and it was at this time, training gave way to aircraft production undertaken by Scottish Aviation Ltd.
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.
In 1958 the Government in an attempt to maintain the airports place at the forefront of modern aviation, announced plans for a new terminal building, freight building, runway extension, control tower and loop road around the airport. By April 1962 the new control tower had been built and in September 1964, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, officially opened the present terminal building.The foresight in 1964 of the airport architects and planners in designing a facility capable of handling millions of passengers a year now looks certain to be justified.