Originally Posted by davidjohnson6
Why do the residents of Glasgow need 2 airports just for Clydeside and do people really travel so much that there is sufficient air travel demand for two airports to be kept busy ? Greater Glasgow has only about 1.2 million people, not 12 million.
The historical reasons for airport/aerodrome locations don't always match up to current requirements. A boring answer, but the correct one.
RE the population, a quick google says that the Glasgow metro area has over 2 million people. "Greater Glasgow", which you refer to, doesn't actually include many parts of the wider urban sprawl that used to come under the old Strathclyde banner. Many towns in Lanarkshire, Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire and Inverclyde aren't included. If you consider the fact that for many of those places Prestwick would have been very handy, you can see why the airport was considered viable for so long.