Glasgow Airport History

I decided to make this topic because it is my local airport and I cant wait to depart/arrive there in global.


(photo credit- ferrovial.com)
The history of Glasgow International airport goes all the way 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 sqaudron Auxiliary Air Force moved its Wapiti IIA aircaft from Renfrew in January 1993. But the RAF Station HQ was not formed until 1 July 1936 when 6 Auxiliary Group, Bomber Command, arrived. From May 1939 the Squadron flew the Supermarine Spitfire. Abbotsinch took over from Renfrew airport on the 2nd May 1966. 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 was built at a cost of £4.2 million and 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. Glasgow Airport was only allowed to handle UK and European traffic. In 1975, the British Aiports Authority (BAA) took ownership of Glasgow Airport. Today, the airport serves quite a few destinations throughout Europe, North America and the Middle East. Commercial airlines such as Jet2, Ryanair, easyJet, Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomson Airways and Loganair have a base at the airport. The largest aircraft that operate at the airport are the Boeing 777-300ER and the Boeing 747-400. On 10 April 2014 Emirates operated an Airbus A380 to Glasgow to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Glasgow-Dubai route, the first time an A380 had visited a Scottish airport. Currently, the airport is not certified for regular A380 operations as the A380 is way to big for Glasgow Airport. Glasgow airport doesnt support A380’s as it doesn’t have double decker terminals. Today the terminal has 3 piers; the West Pier, the Central Pier and the East Pier. The West Pier, known as the International Pier, was built as part of the 1989 extension project and is the long haul departure point. The majority of stands on this pier are equipped with airbridges. The Central Pier was part of the original 1966 building. The British Airways gates are located in the 1971 extension at the end of the pier, with Heathrow and Gatwick shuttles making up most of its traffic as well as BA CityFlyer flights to London City. The British Airways lounge is located on this pier, across from gate 15. Other users of the Central Pier are Flybe and Aer Lingus. Most of the stands on this pier are equipped with airbridges. The East Pier, constructed in the 1970s, was originally used for international flights but in recent years has been re-developed for use by low-cost airlines. None of the stands on this pier are equipped with airbridges. The main users of this pier are Ryanair, EasyJet, Jet2 and Loganair. In 2015 a £3,000,000 extension was added to the pier, creating space for 750,000 extra passengers a year. In 2007 Glasgow airport became the 2nd busiest airport in Scotland as the number of passengers by far passed the number of passengers at Edinburgh airport. Here is some more information: the busiest route from Glasgow is to Heathrow as more than 800,000 passengers travel there every year. ICAO code: EGPF. IATA: GLA. Motto: " GLA to B ". Airport diagram:

(Photo credit- keyword-suggestions.com)
This is some information I thought was quite interesting, just in case you’re wandering this is not my favourite airport, my favourite airport would be Los Angeles. Please let me know if you found this information interesting, let me know if you want me to add more and I will add more information to this topic later. I will be departing from this airport to JFK this Friday at 9:00AM UK time, I will be posting pictures and or videos. Let me know what you think on this topic.

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Nice job. Cool to see how much you’ve put into it!

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Took me half an hour :)

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Good Stuff! My local is Edinburgh.If Edinburgh is included in Global then it would certainly be a big selling point for me.

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What are the flight details for your trip on Friday? Do you have to fly via Heathrow?

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I edited Edinburgh a couple months ago, looks great!

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Edinburgh airports ICAO: EGPH (top middle, the H is behind the E) every airport will be included in global :) here is a picture of someone descending into Glasgow:

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WOW! KICK ON! BACK OF NET! … I can’t begin to tell you how happy your words make me, and I appreciate your time and effort, I’m sure it will look great!

Can’t wait to fly along the scenic Firth of Forth, trying to avoid crashing into the bridges on decent towards the airport with my dodgy… uhmmm extremely skillful stunt flying skills cough, cough bring it on!

Also looking forward to Glasgow too, flying over Loch Lomond 👍Only ever flown from there once, the pic in the OP has really wetted my appetite, and made me feel all patriotic. can’t wait for the FREEEEDOM (braveheart type voice) to fly in Scotland. Class! (If i had one o those wee emoji Scottish flags things on ma keyboard, i would of inserted it right here)

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It’s deffo going to be one of the first airports I use, might do a flight from Blackpool to Edinburgh in a prop:)

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Flying over Loch Lomond and the Highlands especially the Cairngorm’s will be amazing!

I’m Scottish too LOL

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Awwww dinnae! Cannae wait! (subtitles: oh don’t, can’t wait) I’m like a kid now on Christmas Eve! wow n flying on reconnaissance missions above Loch Ness hunting for Nessy 😁

Well nice to meet a fellow Scot 👍

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You sound like a typical Glaswegian lol

Away wi ya! I’m posh I come from Edinburgh😂

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The mottos actually “Proud to serve Scotland” 😂. The one you have there isn’t the old one previous to 2013 :)

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Actually, if you drive round the round about, then drive straight on, you’ll be greeted with " GLA to B " in dotted yellow text.

What do you mean ‘if’. Global is going to include every airport in the world.

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