Glasgow Airport

Glasgow Airport Port-adhair Eadar-nàiseanta Ghlaschu
IATA: GLA – ICAO: EGPF
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	AGS Airports
Operator	Glasgow Airport Limited
Location	Paisley
Elevation AMSL	26 ft / 8 m
Coordinates	55°52′19″N 004°25′59″W / 55.87194°N 4.43306°W / 55.87194; -4.43306Coordinates: 55°52′19″N 004°25′59″W / 55.87194°N 4.43306°W / 55.87194; -4.43306
Website	glasgowairport.com
Map
EGPF Location of airport in Renfrewshire
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 05/23 2,665 8,743 Grooved Asphalt
Statistics (2015 - provisional)
Passengers 8,709,964 Passenger change 14–15 12.9% Aircraft movements (2014) 84,000 Movements change 13–14 5.6%
Sources: UK AIP at NATS[1] Statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority[2] Location from Glasgow Airport[3]

Glasgow Airport , also unofficially Glasgow International Airport, IATA: GLA^[4], ICAO: EGPF, formerly 'Abbotsinch Airport', then 'Renfrew Airport', is an international airport in Scotland, located 6 nautical miles (11 km; 6.9 mi) west^[1] of Glasgow city centre. In 2015 the airport handled over 8.7 million passengers, a 12.9% annual increase, making it the second busiest in Scotland, after Edinburgh Airport, and the eighth busiest airport in the United Kingdom. It is the primary airport serving the west of Scotland and is the principal transatlantic and direct long-haul entry airport into Scotland.

The airport is owned and operated by AGS Airports which also owns and operates Aberdeen and Southampton Airports. It was previously owned and operated by Heathrow Airport Holdings (formerly known as BAA).^[5] The airport's largest tenants are British Airways and Loganair (currently franchising using Flybe), the latter using it as a hub. Other major airlines using GLA as a base include Flybe, EasyJet, Jet2, Ryanair, Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways.

Glasgow Airport was first opened in 1966 and originally flights only operated to other places in the United Kingdom and Europe. The British Airports Authority (BAA) took control of the airport in 1975 and when BAA was privatised in the 1980s, Glasgow Airport began to offer flights to other places around the world, flights which previously used Glasgow Prestwick Airport, which was subsequently relegated as the city's secondary airport catering for low cost airlines, freight and charter operators.

History

The history of the present Glasgow Airport goes back to 1932, when the site at Abbotsinch, between the Black Cart Water and the White Cart Water, near Paisley in Renfrewshire, was opened and the Royal Air Force 602 Squadron (City of Glasgow) Auxiliary Air Force moved its Wapiti IIA aircraft from nearby Renfrew in January 1933.^[6] The RAF Station HQ, however, was not formed until 1 July 1936 when 6 Auxiliary Group, Bomber Command, arrived.^[6] From May 1939, until moving away in October 1939, the Squadron flew the Supermarine Spitfire.

1940

In 1940, a torpedo training unit was formed, which trained both RAF and Royal Navy crews.^[6] On 11 August 1943 Abbotsinch was handed over solely to the Royal Navy and it became a naval base. All Her Majesty's Ships and naval bases are given ship names and Abbotsinch's was known as HMS Sanderling since June 1940.^[6] During the 1950s, the airfield housed a large aircraft storage unit and squadrons of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.

The Royal Navy left in October 1963.^[6] The name Sanderling was however retained as a link between the two: HMS Sanderling's ship's bell was presented to the new airport and a bar in the airport was named The Sanderling Bar.

1960s

In the 1960s, Glasgow Corporation decided that a new airport for the city was required. The original site of Glasgow's main airport was 3 km (1.9 mi) east of Abbotsinch, in what is now the Dean Park area of Renfrew. The original Art Deco terminal building of Renfrew Airport has not survived. The site is now occupied by a Tesco supermarket and the M8 motorway; this straight and level section of motorway occupies the site of the runway.^[7]

Abbotsinch took over from Renfrew airport on 2 May 1966.^[6][7] The UK 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 and built at a cost of £4.2 million, was completed in 1966, with British European Airways beginning services using De Havilland Comet aircraft.

The first commercial flight to arrive was a British European Airways flight from Edinburgh, landing at 8 am on 2 May 1966. The airport was officially opened on 27 June 1966 by Queen Elizabeth II. The political rows over Glasgow and Prestwick airports continued, with Prestwick enjoying a monopoly over transatlantic traffic, while Glasgow Airport was only allowed to handle UK and intra-European traffic.

1970s to 1990s

The aftermath of the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack

In 1975, the BAA took ownership of Glasgow Airport. When BAA was privatised in the late 1980s, as BAA plc, it consolidated its airport portfolio and sold Prestwick Airport. The restrictions on Glasgow Airport were lifted and the transatlantic operators immediately moved from Prestwick, Glasgow Airport being renamed Glasgow International Airport. BAA embarked on a massive redevelopment plan for Glasgow International Airport in 1989.

An extended terminal building was created by building a pre-fabricated metal structure around the front of the original Basil Spence building, hence screening much of its distinctive Brutalist style architecture from view, with the void between the two structures joined by a glass atrium and walkway. Spence's original concrete facade which once looked onto Caledonia Road now fronts the check-in desks. The original building can be seen more clearly from the rear, with the mock barrel vaulted roof visible when airside.

A dedicated international departure lounge and pier was added at the western side of the building, leaving the facility with a total of 38 gates, bringing its capacity up to nine million passengers per year. In 2003, BAA completed redevelopment work on a satellite building (called "T2", formerly the St. Andrews Building), to provide a dedicated check-in facility for low cost airlines, principally Aer Lingus, Virgin Atlantic Airways and Thomas Cook Airlines.

By 1996, Glasgow was handling over 5.5 million passengers per annum, making it the fourth largest airport in the UK.^[8]

Today

Apron view

Tail fins at the international pier

The terminal has three piers: West (International), Central (Domestic) and East (Low-cost, Ireland & Scottish islands).

The Central Pier, which was part of the original 1966 building, is now used for domestic destinations. British Airways is based in the 1971 extension to the end of the pier, with Heathrow and Gatwick shuttles making up most of its traffic. There is a BA Executive Club lounge. Flybe also use the Central Pier.

The East Pier, constructed in the mid-1970s, was originally used for international flights but in recent years has been redeveloped for use by EasyJet and Loganair as well as some charters. Most flights to the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland also use this pier. None of the stands on this pier are provided with airbridges. The major users of this pier are Aer Lingus, Loganair, Ryanair and EasyJet. In 2015 a £3,000,000 exstension was added to the pier, creating space for 750,000 extra passengers a year.

The West Pier, built as part of the 1989 extension project, is the principal international and long haul departure point, with some gates capable of handling Boeing 747 aircraft. The largest aircraft currently regularly using the airport are the Emirates Boeing 777-300ER and Virgin Atlantic's Boeing 747-400s. On 10 April 2014, the airport for the first time hosted the Airbus A380 on a special one-off Emirates flight to Dubai to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the route.^[9]

Work commenced in late 2007,^[10] on Skyhub (located between the Main Terminal and Terminal 2)^[11] which created a single, purpose built security screening area in place of the previous individual facilities for each of the three piers, the other side effect being an enlargened duty-free shopping area created by taking most of the previous landside shopping and restaurant facilities airside. This new arrangement also frees up space in the departure lounges through the removal of the separate duty-free shops in the West and Central Piers. The side effect of this however is that the former public viewing areas of the apron are now airside, making the airport inaccessible to aviation enthusiasts and spectators.

Further growth is hampered by the airport's location, which is constrained by the M8 motorway to the south, the town of Renfrew to the east and the River Clyde to the north. At present the areas of Drumchapel, Clydebank, Bearsden and Linwood all sit directly underneath the approach paths into the airport, meaning that further increases in traffic may be politically sensitive. The facility has also been challenged in recent years from Edinburgh Airport, which now serves wider range of European routes, growing to overtake Glasgow as Scotland's busiest airport although Glasgow retains the edge on transatlantic and long haul routes thanks to its longer runway which can accommodate very large aircraft such as the Boeing 777 and Airbus A340. The Scottish Executive announced in 2002 that a rail line – known as the Glasgow Airport Rail Link (GARL) – would be built from Glasgow Central station to Glasgow Airport. The rail link was to be completed by 2012 with the first trains running early in 2013. In 2009, however, it was announced by the Scottish Government that the plan had been cancelled.^[12]

Currently, the airport is easily accessed by road due to the adjoining M8 motorway and is served by a frequent and dedicated express bus (the "Glasgow Flyer") from the city centre. The service is run by First Glasgow under contract to BAA.

The airport is home to the Scottish regional airline Loganair, currently a Flybe franchise operator, who have their head office located on site.^[13] British Airways has a maintenance hangar at the airport, capable of carrying out overhaul work on Airbus A320, as well as a cargo facility.

The Royal Air Force also has a unit based within the airport – The Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde Air Squadron – to provide flying training to university students who plan to join the RAF.

In 2007, Glasgow became the second busiest airport in Scotland as passenger numbers were surpassed by those at Edinburgh Airport.

Icelandair temporarily moved its base of operations from Keflavík International Airport to Glasgow due to the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull.

In October 2014, Heathrow Airport Holdings reached an agreement to sell the airport, together with Southampton and Aberdeen, to a consortium of Ferrovial and Macquarie Group for £1 billion.^[14]

Plans

In 2005 BAA published a consultation paper^[15] for the development of the airport. The consultation paper included proposals for a second runway parallel to and to the north-west of the existing runway 05/23; redevelopment and enlargement of the East (low-cost) pier to connect directly with Terminal 2; and an additional International Pier to the west of the existing International Pier. There were plans for a new rail terminal, joined to the airport's passenger terminal and multi-storey car park. On 29 November 2006 the Scottish Parliament gave the go-ahead for the new railway station as part of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link to Glasgow Central station, originally due for completion in 2011. However, on 17 September 2009, due to escalating costs, the project was cancelled by the Scottish Government.^[16]

BAA's plans, which are expected to cost some £290 million over the next 25 years, come in response to a forecasted trebling of annual passenger numbers passing through the airport by 2030. The current figure of 7.7 million passengers passing through the airport is expected to rise to more than 24 million by 2030.

Plans are confirmed to build a tram-rail link that will link the city centre to the airport with plans already underway to begin construction of the project.^[17]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Statistics

Annual traffic data

Passenger traffic at Glasgow Airport peaked in 2006 when over 8.8 million passengers passed through the airport. Numbers subsequently declined until 2010, with 6.5 million passengers that year, but have since increased to 8.7 million in 2015.^[2]

Glasgow Airport Passenger Totals 1997–2014 (millions)

Updated: 3 February 2016[2]

Emirates Boeing 777-300ER at Glasgow

Flybe Embraer ERJ 175 at Glasgow

Jet2.com Boeing 737-800 at Glasgow

US Airways Boeing 757-200 taxiing at Glasgow

Monarch Airlines Airbus A330-200 at Glasgow

Busiest routes

Busiest domestic routes (2014)

Rank	Airport	Passengers handled	% change 2013/14
1	London Heathrow	870,988	0
2	London Gatwick	613,254	1
3	London Stansted	304,154	1
4	London Luton	270,220	4
5	Bristol	245,288	5
6	Belfast International	241,789	4
7	Birmingham	229,415	13
8	London City	207,856	19
9	Southampton	173,007	5
10	Belfast City	142,833	20
Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority[2]

Busiest international routes (2014)

Rank	Airport	Passengers handled	% change 2013/14
1	Dubai International	424,561	6
2	Amsterdam Schiphol	414,270	6
3	Tenerife South	249,684	11
4	Palma de Mallorca	216,208	8
5	Dublin	212,005	50
6	Alicante	197,450	8
7	Málaga	168,010	7
8	Dalaman	125,006	2
9	Arrecife de Lanzarote	122,892	4
10	Newark	103,887	1
11	Faro	101,179	7
12	Paris Charles de Gaulle	98,924	28
13	Ibiza	73,940	4
14	Berlin Schönefeld	71,865	2
15	Gran Canaria	67,366	19
16	Keflavík	65,203	29
17	Toronto Pearson	62,801	4
18	Antalya	60,570	4
19	Fuerteventura	60,455	28
20	Enfidha	55,077	9
Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority[2]

Accidents and incidents

• On 3 September 1999, a Cessna 404 carrying nine Airtours staff from Glasgow to Aberdeen on a transfer flight, crashed minutes after take off near the town of Linwood, Renfrewshire. Eight people were killed and three seriously injured. No one on the ground was hurt. A fatal accident inquiry into the accident later found that the aircraft developed an engine malfunction during take off. Although the captain decided to return to the airfield, he mistakenly identified the working engine as the faulty one and shut it down, causing the aircraft to crash.
• On 30 June 2007, a day after the failed car bomb attacks in London, an attack at Glasgow International Airport occurred. A flaming Jeep Cherokee was driven into the entrance of Terminal 1. Two men, one alight, fled the vehicle before being apprehended by a combination of police officers, airport security officers and witnesses. One of the men died in the following months due to injuries sustained in the attack. New barriers and security measures have been added to prevent a similar incident from taking place ^[42]

Ground transport

The airport is currently linked to Glasgow City Centre by Glasgow Shuttle bus service 500. This is run by First Glasgow under contract to Glasgow Airport. Started in 2011, the service runs 24 hours a day, direct via the M8 motorway. McGill's Bus Services service 757 links the airport with Paisley Gilmour Street railway station, Paisley town centre, Erskine & Clydebank. This bus accepts National Rail tickets between Glasgow Airport and any railway station.

References

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Media related to Glasgow International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website

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