Prestwick International Airport

Glasgow Prestwick International Airport (IATA Airport Code: PIK) is a faclity situated North of the town of Prestwick in Ayrshire. The airport is often called Glasgow Prestwick International Airport because Scotland's main city of Glasgow is only 29 miles North East of the airport.

The airport began life as a military airfield, with many American aircraft arriving during World War II. In 1958 passenger facilities were added, and a new terminal building was opened by the Queen Mother. British Aerospace, maintained aircraft production at a factory on site until 1998.

In the beginning, Prestwick was the only Scottish airport allowed to operate a transatlantic link. When this monopoly ended in the 1980s, many flights switched to the newer Glasgow International Airport. Prestwick went through a hard time until the arrival of the low cost airline, Ryanair. The airport was privatised and is owned by a New Zealand investment company.

Now Prestwick is a fast-growing airport serving the following destinations:

Domestic

• London
• Bournemouth
• Cardiff
• Isle of Man

International

• Tille
• Brussels
• Oslo
• Stockholm
• Dublin
• Girona

Airlines serving Prestwick

• BMIbaby
• Excel Airways
• Globespan
• Ryanair

Prestwick Airport is also famous in that it is the only part of the United Kingdom that Elvis Presley set foot on, when his US Army transport plane stopped to refuel in 1960.

External Links

• Glasgow Prestwick International Airport Homepage