History
The airport began life around 1934 — primarily as a training airfield — with a hangar, offices and control tower being in place by the end of 1935. The airport's original owner was David Fowler McIntyre, who was also the owner of Scottish Aviation with backing from the then Duke of Hamilton. MacIntyre and Hamilton had previously been the first aviators to fly over Mount Everest in 1933. With the onset of World War II, the airport developed rapidly in order to handle the large volume of American aircraft ferry traffic.
In 1938 passenger facilities were added which were used until the implementation of a massive investment programme to make Prestwick compatible with the new jet transports. The October 1946 USAAF diagram shows 6600-foot runway 14/32 with 4500-ft runway 8/26 crossing just west of its midpoint. In 1958 runway 13/31 was 7,000 ft (2,134 m) long; in May 1960 the extension to 9,800 ft (2,987 m) opened. A parallel taxiway, link road and an all-new terminal building were opened by the Queen Mother in 1964. The extension of Runway 13/31 caused considerable disruption to road users as the main road from Monkton into Prestwick was now crossing the tarmac of the existing runway. This was strictly controlled by a "level crossing" system until the new perimeter road was completed.
Read more about this topic: Glasgow Prestwick Airport
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