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Prestwick Expanding at the Double Airport Plans 100-Per Cent Growth to Attract Five Million a Year

Posted on: Friday, 11 November 2005, 09:00 CST

By MARTYN McLAUGHLIN

SCOTLAND'S fastest-growing airport is planning to double its capacity in an attempt to handle five million passengers a year in the next decade.

Glasgow Prestwick in Ayrshire has launched a feasibility study to examine doubling the size of its departure lounge and the number of parking stands from six to 12.

Under the proposals, a new two-storey building would be established to expand the existing departure area. One floor would be used for departures and another for arrivals. The current space at the hub would be refurbished.

The plans, which would cost a seven-figure sum, will only be sanctioned should Infratil, the airport owner, be convinced that Prestwick's high growth rate will continue.

Nevertheless, the proposed expansion signals an optimism that Scotland's booming lowbudget airline industry will continue to thrive, and marks a transformation for Prestwick, once a shabby 1960s terminal.

The airport, which employs 495 people, will handle around two- and-a-half million passengers this year, and has a capacity of three million. Should forecasts prove accurate, however, it will need to handle about five million passengers a year in the next decade, as well as increased freight operations.

The airport is optimistic it will be able to welcome passengers on board the Airbus A380, the world's biggest passenger plane, to Ayrshire in the future.

Steve Fitzgerald, chief executive of the airport, said: "It's a marvellous opportunity for the airport and local community.

"It's important to stress it is very early days and the internal design team has only recently been put together. This team is currently exploring the possibility of building a new 5000square metre departure area and refurbishing the existing 2300sq m space to give arriving passengers extra room.

"The building project could take some 18 months and will include extensive airport user consultation to ensure that the end result, should the project be deemed feasible, creates an enhanced and unique airport experience.

"The development will only proceed if Infratil, which owns the airport, is convinced that there are strong prospects for continued high rates of growth and that the expansion can be done cost- effectively and with minimum disruption to passengers during construction."

He added: "If we are to prepare to handle five million passengers annually, it will obviously have an impact on many issues around the airport such as food and refreshments, car parking, car rental, buses and trains. We'll be assessing all these areas as part of the study."

The news of the expansion ofPrestwick comes as the number of passengers using Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports over the past year broke through the 20 million mark for the first time.

The total rose by 5.1-per cent in the 12 months to October, while the monthly figure was up 3.5-per cent to 1.9 million.

Glasgow was Scotland's busiest airport in October, handling nearly 900,000 passengers. The figure grew to 765,534 in Edinburgh and 262,900 in Aberdeen.

The continued growth in passenger numbers at Prestwick, which ran just 30 cargo flights a week in 1992, is largely due to the prevalence of lowcost airlines which it predominantly serves.

Ryanair accounts for 90-per cent of traffic at Prestwick, and there are only three other scheduled airlines - BWIA, Aer Arann and BMI Baby.

Nevertheless, the success of these carriers was exemplified yesterday as Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of easyJet, celebrated the no-frills airline's 10th birthday.

The service, which launched with a flight from Luton to Glasgow 10 years ago yesterday, has flown more than 100 million people.

Simon Calder, author of a book on the take-off of budget carriers, said: "easyJet and Ryanair have revolutionised the industry. They said, 'All we do is fly people from A to B, let us make it simple and still make a profit'. They have actually changed our mindset. It is liberating us and giving us the possibility to travel wherever we want to in Europe for very little cash."

Source: Herald, The; Glasgow (UK)

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