| Product: |
Glasgow International Airport (GLA) |
| Date: |
26/09/01 (367 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: gateway to Scotland, Close to Glasgow
Disadvantages: Transport links could be improved, Not as many direct flights as there should be
Glasgow International Airport ( or Abbotsinch for those of us with longer memories ) is visible from the M8 motorway about 8 miles out of Glasgow and a mile or so from Paisley. So is very accessible to reach by car. It is my local airport and I have flown from here many a time on both international and domestic flights.
Dont get confused with this airport - code GLA - and the other Glasgow one, Glasgow Prestwick - code PIK. Prestwick is around 25 miles to the south of Glasgow, you could have a long taxi ride ! Ryanair only fly to Prestwick.
There are 5 different parking areas from immediately opposite the terminal to approximately ¾ of a mile away. The bumf says it is served by a shuttle bus but as we all know the regularity and frequency can leave a lot to be desired. I haven’t personal tried the bus so I may be unfair here. At the time of writing the closest car park is closed as a new five storey park is being built. Unfortunately, its all at the usual high rates.
Local government planners ought to be shot as public transport is not as good as it should be. There is no train station beside the airport despite almost 20 years of on / off discussion. The nearest station is at Paisley Gilmour Street which will take you to Glasgow or Greenock / Largs, but this is 3 miles away. Although there is a bus service to and from the airport it is still inconvenient to unload then load any suitcases. Buses into Glasgow and then east to Edinburgh leave from stands outside the terminal as do buses for Greenock and Largs . Minibuses just into Glasgow are also available and more frequent ( approx every 15 minutes ). A single far into Glasgow is £3.00. Once it gets beyond 7pm though the frequency dies off, this also happens before 7.00am.
If you have to get a taxi to the airport, try getting a private hire taxi and not a black cab, if coming from the airport don’t get one of the white rank taxis outside the terminal. Th
ere are plenty of firms who advertise in yellow pages and a couple in the airport itself. It will cost you around £10 instead of £15 on a trip. Unlike London airports or in some airports abroad, there are no taxi touts to worry. But if you are foreign first time visitor, just make sure the meter is on, 99.9% of the time you will have no trouble at all but belt and braces eh !
There is only one terminal although Airtours have what I jokingly call a shed to the right of the main building to cope with their own charter flight check ins. Everyone else checks in at the main building on the ground floor central area. Check in queues are normally not bad unless the handling agents decide to put 3 full flights into adjacent check in desks instead of spreading them out. All the main airlines have their own information and sales desks, with British Airways the most prominant.
Ground floor also has the domestic arrivals area and baggage reclaim on the right. On the left is the international arrivals and baggage claim.
The direction signing is generally good, that added to the fact that the airport is fairly small, means it is easy to negotiate.
Once checked in there is not much to see, so up to the first floor. There are quite a few shops in the airport than there used to be. Unfortunately this makes it so much more expensive as you spend half of your money before you leave on last minute treats and gifts! There are Body Shop, Thorntons, Dixons, Our Price, Scottish souvenirs, Boots, coffee shops, a McDonalds, general café, restaurant, Bureaux de Change, newsagents, bars etc. The domestic and international departure piers are at rear of the shopping area.
Once past passort control, there is only the duty free shop, a newsagent and a Bureaux de Change. The duty free shop is the most frustrating though. It is split into two areas. One for travel outside the EU and one inside. One truly is Duty Free and one is Tax Free
or equivalent. In other words they say its reduced to what you will pay on the high street. But word of warning, it is not always cheaper especially on some perfumes now supermarkets are selling CK, Hillfiger etc. Another annoying thing is they stock different products and if you are travelling in the EU, you are not allowed to buy anything in the Duty Free section, even if you wanted to pay a higher price. This is down to BAA who own all the major airports in Britain (except Manchester ) Bizarre ! There is an online shopping service through www.baa.co.uk to let you see prices and have goods ready to be collected on your return. Unfortunately, I have tried the pricing service a few times and the site didn’t work.
The holding area is just about big enough for the volume that flows through but in a few years time will need expanding.
From here to the aircraft is no longer than a 10 minute walk with travelators to aid the way for the weary.
One of the few things to improve the airport would be more direct scheduled flights. Apart from main cities it still means a connection in Paris, Amsterdam or London to reach your ultimate destination.
Summary:
|
|
