Glasgow Prestwick International Airport, serving Glasgow, is located in Ayrshire.

* Berry, P ( 2005 ) Prestwick Airport and Scottish Aviation

Both Campbeltown Airport and Glasgow Prestwick Airport at around are the closest airports in Scotland to Stranraer.

On 4 April 2002, Ryanair started flights to Glasgow Prestwick Airport.

The British Airports Authority ( BAA ) took control of the airport in 1975 and when BAA was privatised in the 1980s, Glasgow Airport began to offer flights to other places around the world, flights which previously were facilitated by Glasgow Prestwick Airport, which was subsequently relegated as the city's secondary airport catering for low cost airlines and charter operators.

The UK Government had already committed millions into rebuilding Prestwick Airport fit for the " jet age ".

The political rows over Glasgow and Prestwick airports continued, with Prestwick enjoying a monopoly over transatlantic traffic, while Glasgow Airport was only allowed to handle UK and intra-European traffic.

When BAA was privatised in the late 1980s, as BAA plc, it consolidated its airport portfolio and sold Prestwick Airport.

The restrictions on Glasgow Airport were lifted and the transatlantic operators immediately moved from Prestwick, Glasgow Airport being renamed Glasgow International Airport.

Glasgow International also faces stiff competition from Glasgow Prestwick Airport, which has reinvented itself as a low-cost hub for budget airlines and which has a direct rail link to Central Glasgow.

Glasgow Prestwick Airport is Glasgow's second airport, it also serves the Greater Glasgow urban area, situated northeast of the town of Prestwick in South Ayrshire and 32 miles from the city centre of Glasgow.

In physical terms, Prestwick is Scotland's largest commercial airfield, although in passenger traffic terms it sits in fourth place after Edinburgh Airport, Glasgow International, and Aberdeen Airport all of which are operated by BAA.

Glasgow Prestwick Airport from the air

It is telling however, that many years since those proposals were made, Glasgow Prestwick Airport does have its own railway station, something that even Glasgow International Airport does not have.

Glasgow Prestwick Airport is considered to be the only piece of United Kingdom territory on which Elvis Presley ever set foot, when the United States Army transport plane carrying him home stopped to refuel in 1960, whilst en route from Germany.

In response, Mark Rodwell, chief executive of Prestwick Airport, told BBC Radio Scotland, that until it was proved otherwise Prestwick Airport remains the only place in the United Kingdom that Elvis Presley ever set foot.

In 1938 passenger facilities were added, which were used continuously until the implementation of a massive investment programme to make Prestwick compatible with the new jet transports which were becoming available.

For this reason, it is often used as a diversionary airport when weather conditions close aviation hubs elsewhere in the United Kingdom-heavy snowfall in the recent severe winters of 2009 and 2010-2011 resulted in large numbers of intercontinental flights bound for London Heathrow and elsewhere to be temporarily diverted to Prestwick.

Prestwick Airport also used to host a bi-annual airshow, the first of which was held on 30 September 1967.

Prestwick was cross-routed from 1851 to 1882 ; the course had eight greens and 12 holes, with four of the greens being used twice for a 12-hole round.

From 1860 to 1870 the Open Championship was organised by and played at Prestwick Golf Club.

* – Prestwick Golf Club: The founder club was dropped from the rotation in 1925, by which time it had hosted twenty-four Opens.

The Jetstream however lived on as a successful product, the design being purchased and produced by Scottish Aviation at Prestwick and later when Scottish Aviation was incorporated into British Aerospace from 1977.

* The inaugural British Open is won by Willie Park senior at Prestwick Golf Club.

* The Open has been administered since 1860 by Prestwick Golf Club but controversy arises in 1871 which prevents the tournament being held.

Today, part of the Prestwick site is occupied by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm with RNAS Prestwick, ( officially known by the Royal Navy as HMS Gannet ), where a detachment of 3 Sea Kings provide a search and rescue role, covering one of the largest SAR areas of the UK including Ben Nevis, the Lakes, Northern Ireland and past the Irish coast.

In 1998, Matthew Hudson sold Prestwick Airport to Stagecoach, a large Scottish transportation group helmed by Sir Brian Souter.

* On 28 April 1958, Vickers Viscount G-AORC crashed at Craigie, South Ayrshire on approach to Glasgow Prestwick Airport when the pilot misread the altimeter by a margin of.

Irvine is also well served by several arterial roads, namely the A78 ( Greenock to Prestwick ), A71 ( Irvine to Kilmarnock and beyond to Edinburgh ), A737 ( through the Garnock Valley to Glasgow via the M8 ) and the A736 to Glasgow

The town is served by Glasgow Prestwick Airport, which serves many European destinations as well as transatlantic and other international cargo flights.

Glasgow is approximately 50 minutes from Prestwick by rail.

The bus routes that run through Prestwick are usually ran by Stagecoach Western including an express service to and from Glasgow known as the " X77 ".

Prestwick is geographically split into two main areas by the Main Street running parallel to the railway line.

The responsibilities of the site were assumed by the air traffic control centre at Prestwick, Scotland, in October 1978.

During World War II, the crossing of the Atlantic by air became much more commonplace with the instigation of RAF Ferry Command that delivered U. S .- and Canadian-built combat aircraft to the United Kingdom, flying from Gander, Newfoundland, to Prestwick in Scotland.

Bulldog production was completed by Scottish Aviation at their Prestwick factory following the demise of the Beagle Aircraft Company.

Kilwinning is well served by Prestwick International Airport, which is only 12. 9 miles south on the A78 dual carriageway ( around 21 mins ), or three stops on the train ( around 14 mins ).

The flight control ( Procedural ATC ) aspect within the Shanwick OCA is the responsibility of the United Kingdom and is provided by NATS from the Prestwick Centre and the voice communication aspect is shared between the CDO's ( Clearance Delivery Officers ) based at Prestwick Centre and the Irish Aviation Authority ( IAA ) from Shannon Aeradio, based in Ballygirreen Radio Station.

Indeed, with a much lower incidence of fog than any other airport in the United Kingdom due to a geological anomaly, Glasgow Prestwick has the reputation of being " Britain's only fog-free airport ".

Concorde became a semi-regular visitor to the airport, and indeed BA and a number of other major airlines still use Prestwick for pilot training.

Today, Ryanair now serves more than 20 destinations from Prestwick — now one of their maintenance hubs – and other budget airlines have also moved into the airport.

The UK airports were London and Prestwick in Scotland, as well as intermediate stops on British colonial territory at Bermuda or Gander and certain other islands.

Unlike some of Scotland's other leading courses, Prestwick is a private members ' club, but visitors may book to play the course on most days of the week.

It is managed by East Coast and as is noteworthy as being one of only two National Rail stations in Scotland not to be managed either by First ScotRail or Network Rail, the other being Glasgow Prestwick Airport railway station.