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Glasgow Airport History |
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| Glasgow
Airport Paisley, Renfrewshire PA3 2SW, UK Location: The airport is located 13km (8 miles) west of the city centre. Currently Glasgow airport is the busiest of Scotland's three main international airports, with over 86,000 air transport movements serving over 7.2 million passengers a year. In 1966 on May 2nd the airport was first opened. The same day BEA began jet services to London with Comet 4 aircraft. 1969 KLM transferred its Amsterdam - Prestwick service to Glasgow. 1973 The main runway was extended from 6,720 ft to 8,720 ft to cater for larger jets. 1975 The owners Glasgow Corporation sold the airport to current operators BAA. BEA launched the Super Shuttle service to Heathrow with Tridents and introduced HS 748's to the Highlands and Islands. 1976 A £2million extension of the terminal was started to bring capacity up to 3.5 million passengers a year 1987 Work began on a major extension of the apron area . The terminal building as it was around 1984 1989 A major extension of the terminal building was announced. The three year project with an initial cost of £55 million would increase the terminal size by 70% and cater for 6 million passengers a year. 1990 March 6 saw the historical announcement of the lifting of Prestwick Airports monopoly on transatlantic flights. Airlines would be free to fly to North America from any airport they chose. Air Canada and Northwest Orient switched right away beginning services to Toronto and Boston in early May. American Airlines began Chicago services and later that summer British Airways introduced New York JFK with Tri-Star aircraft. Canadian charter airlines began holiday flights to Canada. 1994 Building work was completed and international traffic moved to the new pier with 7 air bridges capable of handling any type of aircraft. The terminal now has 33 gates as well as remote parking areas. 1997 Continental Airlines took advantage of the withdrawal of Northwest and United Airlines (who served Washington DC) to begin services to their hub at New York Newark. 2001 Glasgow Airport continues to prosper as Scotland's number one international airport, setting new records for passenger numbers month after month. Glasgow now handles over 7 million passengers and 89,000 air transport movements a year. |
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