A new bus service between Glasgow Airport and North Ayrshire has launched this week.

It is the first direct public transport link between Glasgow Airport and Ayrshire, despite nearly 10% of passengers originating there and 8% of staff making the journey on a regular basis.

Residents of Largs, Kilbirnie and Beith can now take advantage of Arriva's new 800 service, which will also call at Johnstone and Paisley.

The 800 launched yesterday (Monday) and will initially operate from Monday to Saturday, with a journey time of around an hour and 20 minutes in each direction.

Arriva already operates the hugely successful Glasgow Flyer express service to the city centre which was voted Scotland's Best Bus Service at the Scottish Transport Awards in 2009.

Amanda McMillan, Managing Director of Glasgow Airport, said: "Hundreds of thousands of our passengers and staff travel to the airport from Ayrshire every year, and the new Arriva service will make it even easier for them to make that journey by public transport.

She added: "As we made clear in our Surface Access Strategy, we will continue to work with Transport Scotland, SPT and bus operators to improve transport links to the airport and encourage more people to use public transport."

Murray Rogers, Arriva's Commercial Development Manager, added: "We are confident this route will be a huge success as there is definitely a gap in the market for direct public transport links between Glasgow Airport and Ayrshire.

"We are very keen that the service proves attractive to both members of the public and airport staff, and I am keen for people to provide us with any feedback on how we can improve the service going forward."

For timetable information visit:

http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/serviceInformation.aspx?id=9494