Airport History - Glasgow Airport Car Parking from SkyParkSecure
History of Glasgow Airport
The Beginning:
1966: Glasgow Airport was officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen on 27 June; though the terminal opened to passengers a month earlier.
1966: The first commercial flight landed in May at 08.00 - a BEA Viscount from Edinburgh piloted by Captain Eric Starling, the airline's Scottish flight manager. During its first year of operation the airport handled 1.5 million passengers and 34,000 aircraft movements.
1970s: In the 1970's, Glasgow Aiport saw the growth of package holidays from Glasgow, with airlines such as Laker, Tarom, Britannia, British Midland, Iberia and Channel all flying to popular destinations in Europe.
January 1975: An agreement was reached for the transfer of ownership from Glasgow Corporation to the British Airport Authority with effect from 1 April.
1976: A £2 million extension to the international area of the terminal building began and took 18 months to complete.
1980's: Passenger numbers had reached 4 million and further expansion was required. In 1989, the airport embarked on a massive terminal development programme, increasing the size of the terminal by 70%.
1990's: Shortly after development work began, the Government announced that trans-Atlantic carriers could now fly from the airport of their choice. A number of airlines switched their operation from Prestwick to Glasgow Airport, including Air Canada.
1994: The new International Pier was officially opened.
2000: Glasgow Airport was handling over 6.9 million passengers a year.
2002: A new multi-storey car park, linked to the main terminal, opened.
2003: Passenger numbers had broken through the 8 million mark.
2004: Glasgow Airport became the first in Scotland to handle more than a million passengers in a single month.
2004:Glasgow Airport's second terminal, was officially opened, which provided an additional nine check-in desks and a state-of-the-art baggage screening system.
2005:Glasgow Airport publishes its 25 year outline Master Plan, detailing plans to develop the airport to handle as many as 24 million passengers by 2030.
