Glasgow Airport prepares for busy festive period

Published on : Monday, December 23, 2013

Glasgow Airport is gearing up for what it predicts will be its busiest festive period in five years.
Over 140,000 people are expected to travel through the airport between 23 December and 2 January, with many escaping to sunnier climes. It is also a time when many Scots, living and working elsewhere in the UK or overseas, make their way home to celebrate Christmas and New Year with friends and family.
Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Dubai are among the favoured sunshine destinations, while New York, Paris, Barcelona and Berlin are this year’s popular city breaks. As always, Lapland will be a firm favourite for many young families this Christmas.
Amanda McMillan, managing director at Glasgow Airport, said: “The festive period is always an emotional time at the airport. Many of our passengers will be returning home to spend the holidays with friends and family, and as a result there can be lots of happy tears in the terminal as loved ones are re-united.
“Others will be seeking to escape the cold weather by flying to sunny locations, and we also have a great number of people keen to be at the heart of the celebrations by heading to popular Christmas destinations. Whatever our customers’ travel arrangements, sunny or festive, we hope they enjoy their break and would like to wish them all a very happy Christmas.”
One airline which will be extremely busy over the Christmas holidays is easyJet, one of Glasgow Airport’s most popular airlines. The airline is expecting its busiest Christmas ever and will operate over 170 flights from Glasgow, carrying around 22,000 festive travellers to a range of destinations across Europe and the UK. The busiest day of the year for easyJet will be 27 December, when over 2,500 passengers are expected to travel to and from Glasgow.
This year Glasgow Airport is reminding travellers to pack their Christmas gifts carefully before flying and asking that any wrapped Christmas presents be placed in hold luggage, opposed to hand luggage.
The airport is also advising passengers to be aware of the security restrictions, which state only liquid containers of up to 100ml, packed in clear, re-sealable plastic bags, are allowed through airport security search areas. Containers larger than 100mls must be packed in hold luggage.
Ronald Leitch, head of terminal and security operations, added: “To ensure our customers’ journey through the airport is hassle-free, we would encourage anyone travelling with Christmas presents to take a few moments before they leave home to double check any liquids are properly packed and within the 100ml limits. If anyone is planning to take any presents on their flight, we would recommend they pack them in their hold luggage as this will help reduce time at security.”