As an avid supporter and former employee of Prestwick Airport(not Greer or Landmark I may add) it breaks my heart to see the state the airport finds itself in.
Forgetting the passenger side of things, Prestwick Handling was meant to be the saviour of the airport.
Unfortunately Belfast, Glasgow and Edinburgh are all having other ideas. I cannot remember Glasgow or Edinburgh having so much military traffic as they do now. Traffic that once upon a time was Prestwick regulars.
Belfast (Global Trek) are on a whole new level however. In the last 2 months they have scored upwards of 50 USAF C-130`s. This is not to mention US Navy C40`s and USAF C-40`s regularly going through the Irish airport. The majority of this traffic previously used Prestwick.
Incredibly Prestwick have an exclusive military fuel contract that should have the US military flocking to the airport in there droves. However quite the opposite is happening.
Cargo is also down and indeed the W/B CLX772 has been lost on the Monday night. There also seems to be no urgency to chase other types of traffic - ferry flights etc.
Now spotters on here will try and say how busy the place is with C-17`s etc, but these are few and far between. The majority of days the ramps are empty.
Handling are very poor and I've no doubt this is why a lot of traffic is leaving for other airports.
Something is seriously wrong, new management seem to be worse than the last Infratil team, with the main gripe being that the current management are surrounding themselves with people who are ex-colleagues, and have very little knowledge of how things work.
I`m sorry, but the airport I have supported and loved all my life is on it`s knees, and barring a miracle is finished.