Left to right: Derek Mackay, minister for transport and the islands for Scotland, and Amanda McMillan, managing director of Glasgow Airport
Glasgow Airport has officially opened its new east pier extension following a visit by Derek Mackay, minister for transport and the islands for Scotland.
The £3.3m (US$5m) project, which was completed earlier this summer, has introduced a series of improvements to the main terminal building in response to the airport’s success in securing a total of 22 new routes since mid-2014.
The project started in November 2014 and involved the construction of a two story, 15,070ft² extension to one of the airport’s three piers. As well as creating new boarding areas for passengers, it also increased the total number of Code E stands for larger aircraft to six. The improvement works will also allow the airport to handle an additional 750,000 passengers annually.
Glasgow Airport invested more than £25m (US$38.3m) in enhancing its facilities during 2014 and 2015. This included a major refurbishment of the international arrivals area, modernizations to the main check-in hall, the landscaping of a new public space at the front of the terminal and general improvements to the airport’s road network.
Mackay said, “Glasgow Airport has attracted a number of new long haul services and this development will help build on that success. Not only will it be able to accommodate bigger aircraft, but it will also provide improved facilities for departing passengers.
“Of course, we could encourage airlines to operate more direct routes to and from Scotland by cutting rates of Air Passenger Duty, and I once again call on the UK government to transfer the powers to the Scottish Parliament as soon as possible.”
Amanda McMillan, managing director of Glasgow Airport, said, “2015 has been a fantastic year with the airport continuing to go from strength to strength. Not only have we launched a host of exciting new routes and services, we have also seen unprecedented growth in our passenger numbers and have also been classified as one of Europe’s fastest growing airports for the first six months of 2015.”