Prestwick’s rapid growth in China freight flights now attracting UK exporters.
- Ayrshire Daily News
- Sep 3
- 5 min read
By Aviation Editor Doug Maclean
The arrival of e commerce flights at Prestwick was part of a carefully worked out plan. Having seen the rise of internet shopping and the rapid delivery of almost any personal or small household item, manufactured in China, the Prestwick airport freight and operations team investigated how it was being done. Their aim was to see whether Prestwick could offer a quality or speed of service that would be attractive to the airlines and freight companies.
This process that started in 2023 with the Prestwick airport Board’s smart £2.2 million investment in new freight handling specialist equipment. That produced spectacular results. On 16th May of this year China Southern Airlines started direct flight from the eastern coastal city of Guangzhou. Only 2 weeks later Air China started direct flights from China’s capital city Beijing. These 2 airlines are by far the biggest new commercial operators to ever start into Prestwick.
Prestwick airport’s Business Development Director Nico Le Roux with his freight and operations team had studied the operations at places like Heathrow. They knew that a high percentage of perishable air freight went through the airport but crucially that Heathrow allows no overnight scheduled departures between 11pm and 6am. Added to the necessity of long distance trucking from the north of England, and all of Scotland, this allowed the team to come up with a way of marketing Prestwick as the Alternative Cargo Gateway.
The new equipment at Prestwick was designed enhance the ability to load and unload air freight in quick time. Mr Le Roux says that “Prestwick can virtually guarantee that any aircraft can be unloaded and loaded in 2 hours and be on its way to its next destination. Airlines only make money when aircraft are in the air.” Unlike Heathrow, if the aircraft is delayed in arriving there are no departure restrictions or runway slots, any time of the day or night.
A completely new e commerce freight processing centre was set up. Agreements with Royal Mail saw the Prestwick supplied staff in the e commerce building trained to “break down” the aircraft freight loads and to sort the individual packages for regional deliveries across the UK. The combination of 24/7 airport availability, rapid off loading and loading and on airport package sorting has proved to be very attractive to Chinese exporters. There was considerable pride in the news that the operation of the first flights direct from China had created 55 permanent new freight handling jobs at Prestwick.
Both China Southern and Air China airlines now operate 4 flights a week into Prestwick. That figure is believed to be just the start with the possibility that we will see daily services by both airlines in the coming months. Other companies also arrive with Boeing 747 charters from China. Most of the flights are carrying goods for the big 3 Chinese retailers Temu, Shein and TikTok. They are some of the biggest and fastest growing e commerce companies in the world.
The rapid increase in freight has been charted by Prestwick Aviation Tours for Ayrshire Daily News. The first full month of operation by China Southern and Air China was June and the chart shows the remarkable increase in freight tonnage arriving at Prestwick. July and August are expected to confirm the success of the Prestwick Alternative Gateway.
Those initial 55 freight handling staff have rapidly been joined by others and now the figure sits at an astonishing 200 new jobs created. A scale of permanent jobs and rate of increase never seen in Prestwick’s long history.
However airlines do not make worthwhile profits on freight loads which only go in one direction. Exports from Prestwick have always lagged behind imports but until now there have never been direct freight flights from Scotland to China. Scotland does export significant quality food and produce to China but it has mainly gone through the well served routes from London Heathrow.
Now Prestwick has 8 flights a week direct to China and the airlines and airport marketing teams are aiming at high value freight that will benefit from shorter delivery times from their Scottish source to their customers in China. All types of Scottish and UK seafood are well regarded in China and their relatively light weight make them very suitable as air cargo.
“The value of Scottish salmon exports reached a record £844 million in 2024 with the Chinese market growing by 60% in value, and 107% in volume,” said Ian Forgie, Chief Executive Officer, Glasgow Prestwick Airport.
“Our in-house expertise coupled with our significant investment makes PiK a standout hub for the Scottish seafood industry and we are prepared to meet growing demand.”
Prestwick has invested in high-volume metal detectors for freight scanning, temperature exposure and tracking systems, and four chillers with a combined 87 tonne capacity. This is housed in a dedicated facility to handle seafood exports to China and mainland Europe
The airport’s location close to fish farms offers key benefits such as reduced farm-to-flight transit times, lower trucking costs and reduced CO2 emissions. Most attractive to Chinese importers is that the reduced travel time allows an 18 hour shelf life extension in the shops in China. Ayrshire Daily News understands that Chinese customers are prepared to pay a premium for the added freshness of Prestwick exported seafood.
The 8 flights a week from Prestwick are so attractive that it is understood that other UK seafood exporters have looked at Prestwick and may be persuaded to switch their seafood exports from London to Prestwick. Herring, cod, prawns, crabs, scallops and langoustine from across the UK can command premium prices in China. They too could soon be arriving at the Prestwick chilled storge area and going out direct to China from Scotland.
In addition to seafood there are also other Scottish products like high quality whisky, seasonal fruit and even ice cream which are already exported to China from different parts of Scotland. Prestwick is also the heart of Scottish Aerospace business.
When Air China started in June they brought a team of marketing people to be permanently based at Prestwick with a view to making Prestwick their main UK air freight hub. It is not at all fanciful to think that, in future, we may see those flights departing direct to China with a cargo load including a Prestwick maintained jet engine, boxes of Scottish salmon and North Sea fish.
When you talk to people involved in this latest Prestwick story there is a real sense of optimism. Success breeds success and other airlines operating other destinations may follow.
Tavish Scott, Chief Executive of Salmon Scotland, visited Prestwick last week to learn about new facility and lend support to the new Scotland to China “perishable export service.”
He said - “The new dedicated service from Glasgow Prestwick Airport strengthens our ability to meet growing demand in China and across Asia, while supporting jobs and communities in Scotland’s coastal and rural areas. This investment is a welcome boost to our sector and will support Scotland’s already exemplary export performance.”
Mr Scott’s comments come as Scottish salmon farmers prepare to tap into the lucrative Indian seafood market following the free trade agreement negotiated by the UK Government. 2026 will see Indian tariffs substantially reduced or eliminated with the Scottish whisky and salmon industries poised to serve a demand from the country of 1.46 billion – the biggest in the world.
Well done again Team Prestwick in making the Prestwick Alternative Gateway a reality and keeping Prestwick at the Heart of Scottish Aerospace operations.
