Prestwick Airport is celebrating another win, after major success in attracting new flights, writes Business Editor Ian McConnell.
And the politically motivated whingeing by some over the Scottish Government’s rescue of this key strategic asset seems to have diminished greatly in recent times.
It was interesting to see Prestwick Airport highlight its many advantages last week as it announced yet another win.
This victory for the airport, which yesterday reported a sixth consecutive annual profit, came in the form of a well-deserved award.
Prestwick Airport, which has been owned by the Scottish Government since it was rescued in 2013, was presented with the Air Freight Business of the Year accolade at Logistics UK’s annual awards.
This award follows a most impressive series of wins this year for its cargo operations, which are headed by Nico Le Roux.
Mr Le Roux highlighted ambitions for growth of the cargo business when he took me on an airside tour of Prestwick Airport on a cold, sunny day in February.
Specifically, he flagged the potential for Prestwick Airport to handle cargo flights bringing packages ordered by UK and Irish consumers on the likes of the Temu, SHEIN, and TikTok platforms.
And he underlined the airport’s capacity to handle such flights, highlighting major investment and natural advantages.
Since then, Prestwick Airport, which yesterday reported a rise of about £300,000 in operating profit to £3.5 million for the year to March 31, has attracted scheduled cargo flights from three major Chinese carriers.
Mr Le Roux and the team at Prestwick Airport have also been working hard to maximise the potential for exports of Scotch whisky and Scottish seafood on the return legs of these flights from China.
Prestwick Airport said on Friday after picking up the Logistics UK accolade: “The award follows a period in which the airport strengthened its role as a key gateway for trade between Asia, the UK, and Europe, supported by new scheduled services, expanded handling capability, and a clear strategy for long-term development.”
The airport, known officially as Glasgow Prestwick, summed up what had been achieved.
It said: “Prestwick recorded significant rises in tonnage and flight rotations in 2025 and became the UK base for Air China Cargo, China Southern Airlines, and Beijing Capital Airlines, which now operate 16 weekly, full-freighter services.”
Prestwick Airport announced on November 24 that Air China Cargo had doubled its weekly freighter services from four to eight, and added Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport to its existing Guangzhou service.
The additional four flights to Chengdu, using an A330 freighter, commenced on November 22.
Prestwick Airport noted on Friday that it had increased its workforce by more than 150 and “invested in dedicated e-commerce processing facilities”.
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It added: “Royal Mail and EVRi also established e-commerce operations bases at Prestwick, enabling faster processing of cross-border parcels and reducing the need for long-distance trucking across the northern region of the UK, which has supported lower emissions and improved efficiency for shippers. Additionally, the airport has invested almost £2m in GSE (ground support equipment), cool-chain facilities and enhanced warehouse screening capabilities with more committed investment to come in 2026.”
Mr Le Roux declared that the “passion and flexibility” of the entire airport team had been key to delivering “transformational growth”.
Flexibility is one of the airport’s key advantages which was flagged by Mr Le Roux back in February.
During the airside tour, he highlighted Prestwick Airport’s advantages for cargo operators, in terms of its quick turnaround times, lower costs, and flexibility given its 24/7 operation and absence of any curfews or extra charges for landing at night.
He also flagged the fact that Prestwick Airport’s operations were all handled in-house by its own employees, including ground-handling, fuelling, air-traffic control and fire services.
Mr Le Roux highlighted the huge advantage that such in-house operations gave the airport in being able to respond to the needs of cargo airlines, including at short notice.
When I spoke with him in February, Mr Le Roux noted the bonded warehouses were on site, and also highlighted the proximity of the cargo facilities to the ramps.
He flagged the fact that the airport was not congested, and its ability to accommodate large freighters.
Mr Le Roux also highlighted Prestwick Airport’s ability to have a cargo plane back in the air within two hours of landing.
He underlined the speed with which cargo planes were unloaded once they arrived. And he contrasted this with the situation at some other airports.
Mr Le Roux declared: “Within two hours, we basically guarantee aircraft arrive and take off again.”
He observed this was very important to operators “because that aircraft only makes money when it is in the air”.
Mr Le Roux also highlighted the heavy investment in the cargo operations at Prestwick Airport, including in equipment to handle the wide-door A350 cargo aircraft. The capital investment programme is very much ongoing, as highlighted again yesterday when the airport published its financial results.
Reiterating its advantages after winning the award last week, Prestwick Airport noted that it “runs 24/7 cargo operations and has no restrictions or curfews on inbound or outbound flights, offering a fully in-house service, from cargo handling to aircraft fuelling”.
It added: “Our uncongested air and ground paths mean less taxiing, less vectoring, and fewer emissions and, with no slot or gate constraints, we are a natural choice for e-commerce flights.
“We average a two-hour turnaround for a wide-bodied freighter aircraft after arrival, and can deliver a B747 full-palletised offload on to trucks to arrive in Manchester within six hours of landing.”
And there was more.
Prestwick Airport added: “We have over 12,000 square metres of warehouse space opening on to cargo apron, new cold-storage facilities…and our dedicated live animal team and on-site stables mean that we can welcome horses.
“Our warehouse screening options, which include a new Rapiscan X-ray machine with 7.5mm steel penetration, as well as the option to work with canines, allow us to handle of all types of cargo, including seven classes of dangerous goods, with specialised handling for class 1, as well as oversized cargo for the oil and gas, aerospace, and live touring industries.”
And the airport was not done yet in setting out its attributes.
The airport noted that it “boasts the longest commercial runway north of Manchester, which can accommodate the AN124, and offers direct links to the UK’s motorway network”, as well as its own cargo railway siding, and “easy access to nearby ferry services to Ireland”.
It added that its “west of Scotland location on the Great Circle route, between the Middle East and the USA, makes Prestwick an effective bedrock of any transportation plan”.
This all constitutes quite the impressive résumé.
Ian Forgie, chief executive of Prestwick Airport, said late last month as the doubling of the Air China Cargo flights frequency was announced: “The past six months have been among the busiest in Prestwick’s history, as we have welcomed three new scheduled cargo operators and expanded our facilities to support sustained growth.
“This has been a transformational year, and we expect this momentum to continue into 2026 as we deepen our role as a strategic gateway between the United Kingdom and the rest of the world.”
Thankfully, the politically motivated whingeing by some over the Scottish Government’s rescue of the key strategic asset that is Prestwick Airport seems to have diminished greatly in recent times.
This is perhaps unsurprising, given the airport’s many impressive successes.
It would certainly be great to see Prestwick Airport’s momentum continue into 2026.
And the airport does look to have a good tailwind to make further progress in pursing a shrewdly crafted strategy backed by a strong management team, investment and of course its many natural advantages.
