Glasgow Prestwick Airport

Glasgow Prestwick Airport (IATA: PIK, ICAO: EGPK) is the second airport serving Glasgow. It also serves the Greater Glasgow area. It is 1 NM (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) northeast of the town of Prestwick in South Ayrshire. It is 32 miles from the city centre of Glasgow. Prestwick is Scotland's largest airport by size. However, Edinburgh Airport, Glasgow International and Aberdeen Airport all handle more passengers. The year with the most passengers passing through Prestwick was 2007. Since 2007, a lot less passengers pass through Prestwick. 1.3 million passengers passed through the airport in 2011. This was 22% reduction from 2010. Douglas Fowler McIntyre and the Duke of Hamilton owned the airport at first. These people were the first to fly a plane to the top of Mount Everest in 1933. During and after World War II it was a Royal Air Force base. In 1952 it was made a United States Air Force base. The airport was made bigger in the early 1960s: the runway was made longer and a new terminal building was made. The new, bigger airport opened in 1964. Today, Glasgow Prestwick is mostly used by Ryanair. On 8 March 2012, Infratil, the company which owns Prestwick, said that they had placed the airport up for sale. The Chief Executive Marco Bogoievski said that he does not regret selling the airport. The Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm uses part of the airport. It has 3 Sea King helicopters there for search and rescue. They cover Ben Nevis, the Lakes, Northern Ireland and 200 NM (370 km; 230 mi) past the Irish coast. This force is often called 'HMS Gannet'. 15 officers, 11 ratings, 28 civil servants and 50 civilian staff work at the base. References