Sun Feb 22, 2009 10:32 pm
#717882
Popped into Prestwick this weekend, after failing to get into Oban with its 'soft' weather.
Prestwick has a huge runway, the largest commercial strip of tarmacadam in Scotland - and is GA friendly. Loads of golf and Glasgow nearby too.
Basic landing fee for PA46 was £14.10. Given most commercial airports don't want to know these days, this is a genuine bargain. And Prestwick is refreshingly keen to attract VFR and IFR traffic. Its ILS for 31 also turned out to be rather handy.
We used Ocean Sky's brilliant FBO. There are others on the field, (I gather the Prestwick Flight Centre is cheapest and simplest) but Ocean Sky was outstanding and worth every penny of the £30 handling charge.
http://www.oceansky.com/live/en/jetcentres/prestwick.php
The staff and service were great - honestly, they really couldn't do enough for us. I called them up out of the blue while on downwind on 130.075, they had a Follow Me vehicle out to meet us as we landed, a hire car booked, and us in the lounge and the plane debagged within a couple of minutes of shut down.
On the way out this afternoon, the weather and notams for our flight to Gloucestershire were given to me on walking into the building, and tea and biscuits served, again by the time I got the kids into the lounge. For us, a family of four, the £30 was really worked out at £3.75 per person per visit. You can spend that on a fancy coffee in an airport terminal these days. But it won't buy you personal service, space, peace and a place to get the family sorted before a flight.
If you're travelling the West Coast of Scotland do give them your support. It's rare to find such an enthusiastic pro-GA and reasonably-priced gem of a service among the bigger airports.
Prestwick has a huge runway, the largest commercial strip of tarmacadam in Scotland - and is GA friendly. Loads of golf and Glasgow nearby too.
Basic landing fee for PA46 was £14.10. Given most commercial airports don't want to know these days, this is a genuine bargain. And Prestwick is refreshingly keen to attract VFR and IFR traffic. Its ILS for 31 also turned out to be rather handy.
We used Ocean Sky's brilliant FBO. There are others on the field, (I gather the Prestwick Flight Centre is cheapest and simplest) but Ocean Sky was outstanding and worth every penny of the £30 handling charge.
http://www.oceansky.com/live/en/jetcentres/prestwick.php
The staff and service were great - honestly, they really couldn't do enough for us. I called them up out of the blue while on downwind on 130.075, they had a Follow Me vehicle out to meet us as we landed, a hire car booked, and us in the lounge and the plane debagged within a couple of minutes of shut down.
On the way out this afternoon, the weather and notams for our flight to Gloucestershire were given to me on walking into the building, and tea and biscuits served, again by the time I got the kids into the lounge. For us, a family of four, the £30 was really worked out at £3.75 per person per visit. You can spend that on a fancy coffee in an airport terminal these days. But it won't buy you personal service, space, peace and a place to get the family sorted before a flight.
If you're travelling the West Coast of Scotland do give them your support. It's rare to find such an enthusiastic pro-GA and reasonably-priced gem of a service among the bigger airports.