By Doug Maclean Aviation Editor Over the decades many unusual airlines have found Prestwick’s long runway useful for a stop over between North America and Europe. Alaska Airlines joined that prestigious list on Tuesday when a beautiful Boeing 787 Dreamliner arrived from Seattle on the far west coast of the USA. Image - Callum Aviation As flight number ASA9965 touched down in Europe for the first time the Alaska Airlines news team clarified why they were in Scotland. They tol

By Aviation Editor Doug Maclean   This major development will expand Ryanair’s existing Prestwick operation from 6 to 10 bays, taking more aircraft every week and creating 450 new engineer and mechanic jobs. The 11,938 square metre state of the art hangar will have space for 4 aircraft and a workshop where Ryanair can manufacture certain products for fitting in the aircraft going through the maintenance inspection and refit. This will makePrestwick the premier aircraft mainte

By Aviation Editor Doug Maclean For many Ayrshire People the name Polar Air Cargo and then Atlas Air was synonymous with the many Boeing 747s which used to fly in from around the world for maintenance at the Polar “Jumbo” Hangar. That building is now the home of Storm Aviation who have a thriving aircraft maintenance business at Prestwick. Image - Airbus Atlas Air, who now own Polar Air Cargo, hit the headlines this week when they ordered 20 of the new Airbus A350 freighters.

Yesterday Air China Cargo quietly expanded its freight flights to Prestwick yet again and now has daily services to Chengdu in Western China. This is in addition to both Air China and China Southern airlines operating a total of 8 scheduled freight flights from Guangzhou in South East China, near Hong Kong. By Aviation Editor Doug Maclean Image - Glasgow Prestwick Airport On May 16th 2025 the first scheduled freight flights from Scotland to China started from Prestwick when

An Ayrshire aviation company is in the running for a national award after clearing apprentices for take-off, turning homegrown talent into world-class engineers whose skills are fuelling growth and safeguarding the sector. An Ayrshire aviation company is in the running for a national award after clearing apprentices for take-off, turning homegrown talent into world-class engineers whose skills are fuelling growth and safeguarding the sector.  Ryanair Engineering delivered by

Aviation Editor Doug Maclean – 21st January 2021 On December 8th a press release from the Airbus SE announced they had completed the acquisition of many aircraft manufacturing sites owned by Spirit Aerosystems. The Spirit manufacturing site at Prestwick had been working for both Airbus and Boeing. Prestwick Aerosystems proudly takes its place at a historic site - Image Eddie Wallace Picture Eddie Wallace Prestwick Aerosystems is the new name for aircraft manufacturing at the

Prestwick airport annual account figures have been released. An outstanding 6th year of profit is reported, and we are told it is also being followed with record flight and income increases in 2025. Doug Maclean Aviation Editor. Prestwick’s continuing success has come after it is revealed that the airport was able to invest £10 million of its own money into development which is paying off handsomely. Glasgow Prestwick Airport has put out a statement today saying the airport

By Aviation Editor Doug Maclean. It’s a sight we have never seen before. A China Southern Boeing 777 freighter has just offloaded its 110 tonnes of cargo from Guangzhou, Southern China. The thousands of parcels will be delivered to households all over the UK in the next couple of days. Meanwhile an Air China Boeing 777 lands with another 110 tonnes of presents from Beijing. It arrives direct from China’s capital city where 21 million people live and work. Another Air Chin

A remarkable event took place at Ayrshire College this week. Doug Maclean Aviation Editor 12th December 2025. AERALIS are the pioneering aircraft design company who aim to build the replacement for the Red Arrows jets at Prestwick airport. They have the backing of world class engineering and manufacturing companies and can attract finance from across the globe. Anton Burford and Callum Watson of AERALIS made a presentation at Ayrshire College. The room was full of an apparent

Aviation Editor Doug Maclean At a gala night at the Park Plaza Westminster hotel last night Prestwick was crowned UK Air Freight Business of the Year. It is a fabulous recognition for several years of hard work by Nico Le Roux and his small but incredibly good team. The turnaround is remarkable. A whole new business has been created. Traditionally it was exciting to see a new service start at one a week. We have gone from Scotland never having a dedicated freight service to C

Great news breaking tonight. The “Spirit” aerospace jobs at Prestwick are secure. New name over the door of the main factory will be Prestwick Aerosystems. Doug Maclean Aviation Editor, 8th December 2025 Double good news for Prestwick and Scottish industry today as details released from Airbus in Amsterdam said that Airbus “has closed the transaction with Spirit AeroSystems for the acquisition of industrial assets dedicated to its commercial aircraft programmes.” Picture Airb

Quite a few people were asking what on earth laded at Prestwick just as it was getting dark ? The answer is 2 Boeing V22 Ospreys belonging to the United States Air Force. Aviation Editor Doug Maclean. They are big, powerful and heavy. The Osprey is 57 feet long and powered by 2 Rolls Royce jet engines. It is described by Boeing as a multirole combat aircraft which utilises tilt rotor technology. Image - Eddie Wallace They can fly like a helicopter or a fixed wing aircraft be

Recognition of the skill and dedication of decades of staff and companies on the Prestwick Aerodrome site since it was founded by Group Captain David McIntyre in 1935   Aviation Editor Doug Maclean 28 th November 2025.   I was very privileged to watch a piece of aviation history a few days ago when Spirit Senior Vice President Scott McLarty and General Manager John Gillbanks were presented with the rare Heritage Award by the President of the Prestwick Branch of the Royal Aer

Business as usual as airport wings its way to another profitable year.   Aviation Editor Doug Maclean - 27 th November 2025   Prestwick airport is shortly to report it’s annual accounts to the Scottish Parliament. Last year the airport reported a historic 5 th year in profit. It is very likely that the accounts for this year will report a 6 th year of profit and possibly exceed the £3.2 million operating profit recorded last year.   Image - Eddie Wallace It is against that

Doug Maclean - Aviation Editor. 22nd November 2025. 4 additional flights each week start today with Air China. The new service comes from Chengdhu in central China with a stop over in Stockholm, Sweden. Image - Eddie Wallace When Ayrshire Daily News reported live from Prestwick airport in the middle of a cold February night I described the occasion as a very special night and the start of something really exciting. We saw the arrival of the first ever commercial freight fligh

Analysis of market trends and smart investment at Prestwick pays off in spectacular fashion. Aviation Editor Doug Maclean Image - Wikipedia A couple of years ago Prestwick airport management did a deep dive into market trends. Prestwick has always faced stiff competition in its business and it has survived by adapting to airline trends and providing the best service it can to all of its wide customer base. Business Development Director Nico Le Roux and the Board identified th

Prestwick airport and AERALIS sign an agreement pointing to hundreds of jobs coming to Ayrshire. Doug Maclean Aviation Editor The Ayrshow...

By Aviation Editor Doug Maclean The arrival of e commerce flights at Prestwick was part of a carefully worked out plan. Having seen the...

By Aviation Editor Doug Maclean Before I get scolded for my arithmetic, I will just explain yesterday 1 Boeing 777 freighter and 1 Boeing...

Here at Ayrshire Daily News we are very lucky. We are a small team of individuals, all with our own interests and experience. We all live...