GLA at a glance
Glasgow Airport is owned by AGS Airports Limited
AGS Airports Limited is jointly held by Ferrovial (via Faero UK Limited) and AGS Ventures Airports Limited, an entity controlled by Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 4 LP.
Macquarie and Ferrovial have a long and successful history of partnering with each other across a number of infrastructure projects.
Both partners have developed extensive knowledge of aviation and have excellent contacts globally.
With more than two decades of experience developing and owning essential infrastructure around the world, Macquarie partners with governments and communities to manage assets that underpin economies including airports, roads, utilities, telecommunications and energy infrastructure. Managing investments on behalf of institutional investors, Macquarie is the world’s largest infrastructure manager. For more information visit www.macquarie.com
Ferrovial has been associated with the aviation industry since 1998 and in that time has invested in 32 airports across the UK, Italy, Australia, Chile and Mexico, among other countries. For more information visit www.ferrovial.com
With some 30 airlines serving over 100 destinations worldwide, including Canada, the US, the Caribbean, Europe and the Gulf, Glasgow is Scotland’s principal long-haul airport as well as Scotland’s largest charter hub.
Carrying over nine million passengers per year, Glasgow Airport serves more Scottish destinations than any other airport and is a key component of Scotland’s transport infrastructure.
• Operating hours: 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
• Opened: 1966
• Runways: One (2665m long)
• Terminals: Two – our main terminal plus our T2 facility
• Airlines: 30
• Destinations: 100 +
• Air transport movements per year: 102,000
• Passengers per year: 9.9 million
• Air cargo per year: 13,033 tonnes
• Status: Scotland’s principal long-haul airport
Board of Directors
Board of Directors
Andy Carlisle, Head of Portfolio Management at Ferrovial Airports
Andy has nearly 30 years of experience from across the world in the transport sector. He started his airports career at Jacobs Consultancy, initially in capacity analysis and simulation modelling, before advising clients in the emerging airport transaction market and spending nearly 3 years in the USA. After returning to the UK in 2006, Andy joined Macquarie before returning to management consultancy, heading both the ICF SH&E and the LeighFisher airports advisory UK practices. In 2016, he established AirPort360 to provide airport investors with an independent perspective and all-round business planning advice. Andy holds a Bachelor of Science in Geography from Kingston Polytechnic and a Master of Science in Transport Planning and Management from the Polytechnic of Central London.
María Casero, Asset Management, People, Comms & CSR Director at Ferrovial Airports
María oversees the acquisition, ownership and management of the division’s international assets, with a particular focus on people, communications, and CSR strategy. She is also a non-executive director of Heathrow Airport Holdings and AGS Airports (Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton).
María has over 32 years' experience in the aeronautical industry in Europe, Latin America and the United States. Having held a variety of roles in a range of relevant businesses, she takes a holistic view of the sector. She instinctively takes account of the product, the infrastructure, the service providers and the distribution channels.
María's career began as an Accounting Manager at American Airlines. She then spent 14 years with British Airways, eventually becoming its HR Director for Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2006, she moved to Carlson Wagonlit Spain as Human Resources and Internal Communications Director, and a member of the Executive Committee for the Mediterranean Area.
In 2008 she joined us to lead our Human Resources and Communication function. As a member of the Executive Committee, María coordinates the people and communication activity for assets managed by the division. She also takes the lead on these issues for all investment opportunities pursued by the division.
María is a member of Ferrovial's Academic Committee and Corporate Social Responsibility Committee, and is a World Business Partner at the Airports Council International (ACI) Europe.
Academic Background
Bachelor’s degree in Law from Universidad San Pablo CEU
Executive MBA and Executive Certified Coach from IE Business School
Miguel Rodera, Asset Management Director at Ferrovial Airports
Miguel is responsible for helping monitor and manage business performance at Aberdeen, Glasgow, Southampton, and Dalaman airports, as well as FMM in Qatar. He joined Ferrovial Airports in 2022 as Head of Portfolio Management. He has over 20 years of experience in the aviation sector, having held several management positions at AENA. Miguel holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Telecommunications Engineering from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, an MBA from IE Business School, and an Executive PDI from ICEX.
Simon Geere, Chief Executive Officer, Farnborough Airport (and Senior Adviser to MIRA)
As Chief Executive Officer of Farnborough Airport, Simon is responsible for all aspects of the business including strategic planning, capital investment and stakeholder management.
Previously, Simon spent 18 years in MIRA’s European transport team in London, where he was responsible for the overall management and strategic direction of some of its major airport and aviation related assets. Simon joined Macquarie in 2002 with a broad commercial background, particularly in on-airport property development and infrastructure planning. He has held directorships at the Arlanda Express, Copenhagen Airports, Bristol Airport, Birmingham Airport, Brussels Airport and Newcastle Airport (holding the role of chairman at several of these), and has been an Executive Director at Luton Airport.
Jim O’Sullivan FREng CEng, Senior Adviser to MIRA
Jim served as Chief Executive at Highways England from 2015 to 2021 where he led the successful delivery of the Government’s first Road Investment Strategy including the delivery of a £13bn capital programme, major advances in safety, and a new focus on treating road users as customers.
Prior to this he was with Heathrow Airport Holdings where he was Managing Director of Edinburgh Airport and oversaw the sale of their regional airports. He spent nine years in senior roles in utilities including at National Grid and at Eon. He was also a Non-Executive Director on the Board of the ORR, for four years.
At British Airways he held a number of operational and engineering posts, including Chief Engineer for Concorde, and the Programme Vice President for the B777 while based in the U.S.
Jim is currently a Non-Executive Director at the Major Projects Association and has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
He holds a degree in Air Transport Engineering at City University in London, an MBA from Lancaster and he is an Alumni of the Senior Executive Programme at M.I.T in Boston USA.
Academic Background
Bachelor’s degree in Law from Universidad San Pablo CEU
Executive MBA and Executive Certified Coach from IE Business School
AGS Airports Executive Team & Airport Management
Andy Cliffe, Chief Executive Officer, AGS Airports Lts
Andy Cliffe joined AGS Airports as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on 1 January 2023. Mr Cliffe has extensive experience of the aviation industry having previously spent 19 years with the Manchester Airports Group (MAG) where he served as a member of the group’s executive committee.
During his time with MAG, Mr Cliffe held the position of managing director of East Midlands and Bournemouth airports. He also held senior positions across a variety of functions including finance, operations, commercial, real estate development, strategy and corporate development.
Latterly, Mr Cliffe was the chief executive of Midland Expressway Ltd which operates the UK’s only major toll road, the M6toll.
Mark Johnston, Chief Operating Officer, AGS Airports
Mark joined Glasgow Airport as Continuous Improvement Project Manager in 2000. He then went on to hold a number of different roles within the airport operation, including Head of Terminal and Security, Head of Infrastructure and Technical services and latterly Operations Director, before being appointed Managing Director in May 2018. Mark was appointed Chief Operating Officer of AGS Airports in November 2020. Mark has a BA Honours in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Heriot-Watt University and also an MBA from Glasgow University.
Gillian Bruton, Chief Financial Officer, AGS Airports
Gillian qualified with a Bachelor of Accountancy degree from Glasgow University and completed her Chartered Accounting qualification with PWC in Glasgow. She then spent three years working as an International Internal Auditor with Thorn EMI, based near London. In 1998 Gillian joined Polaroid , where she held various finance roles of increasing responsibility, ultimately serving as group Finance Director from 2007 to 2013 for the Polaroid Eyewear division, which manufactured and sold Polaroid Eyewear branded sunglasses globally. In May 2013 she was appointed as Finance Director for Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd the group which owns and operates 11 airports around Scotland, including Inverness and Sumburgh airports. This was a joint appointment with Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd. Gillian joined the AGS Executive in November 2020.
Roger Hunt, Chief of Business Services
Following a career spanning 26 years with the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, where Roger had a number of roles across both the Business and HR, he left the position of Global Implementation Manager in 2009 to take up a fresh challenge as Head of Human Resources for the Scottish Prison Service. He joined Aberdeen Airport in 2011 as Head of HR before moving into the operation as Operations Director in 2013. He joined the AGS Executive Committee in January 2015 as Director for HR, Capital and Innovation. Roger is currently Chief of Business Services.
Matt Hazlewood, Chief Commercial Officer, AGS Airports
Matt joined AGS in 2021 with more than 20 years of experience in the aviation industry. He started his career in easyJet, working in the airport development and procurement fields before moving to Budapest to take on the role of Head of Network and Scheduling at Wizz Air. Following three years at Wizz, Matt worked in several senior network strategy roles in Norwegian and spent two years in Barcelona advising on the sale of Spanair. He also spent four years working at Gatwick Airport as the Head of Airline Relations.
Airport Management:
Ronald Leitch, Operations Director, Glasgow Airport
Having first joined Glasgow in 2000, Ronald has held numerous senior roles at the airport and the wider AGS group with a broad range of responsibilities across its aviation, security and terminal operations.
Ronald also held the role of Operations Director at Aberdeen International Airport before returning to Glasgow in 2014 to lead the Capital and Engineering functions. He has been responsible for delivering capital investment programmes totalling £70 million, including the replacement of the airport’s baggage systems to meet Standard 3 compliance. Ronald also played a crucial operational role in bringing the iconic A380 aircraft into regular service in 2019, which was a first for Scottish aviation.
Customer charter
Glasgow Airport values your custom and we are committed to ensuring your time with us is enjoyable, hassle-free and you feel safe at all times. Our Customer Charter is based on the things you told us are important to you and specifically how we can ensure you have a great experience as you travel through the airport. Our commitment to you is that we will do everything we can to meet your expectations and give you a fantastic and memorable airport experience. We welcome your feedback and ideas on how we can improve your airport experience so we would be delighted to hear from you.
Download our customer Charter Commitments (PDF)Who does what?
Running a busy airport is a complex operation which involves ensuring everything is safe and secure for the benefit of our passengers, staff and visitors.
It is important that all of our services run smoothly so our responsibilities include:
- Looking after security
- Property management
- Retail facilities
- Fire services and cargo
We also have an obligation to minimise our environmental impact so we have a robust corporate responsibility agenda and positive results of which we are very proud. As a business, we want to be a leader in this field.
To achieve our goals and aspirations, Glasgow Airport works in partnership with many other organisations to deliver a high-quality service:
Airlines
Responsible for checking in passengers, delivering hold luggage to its final destination, cargo, providing and fuelling aircraft, boarding passengers, passenger safety, on-board catering and complaint handling.
Civil Aviation Authority
Controls all flight paths and aircraft routes at UK airports, regulates airlines, airports and the National Air Traffic Services. The CAA also sets airport charges at the London airports.
UK Border Force
Border Force was formed on 1 March 2012 as a law enforcement command within the Home Office. Border Force secures the border and promotes national prosperity by facilitating the legitimate movement of individuals and goods, whilst preventing those that would cause harm from entering the UK. This is achieved through the immigration and customs checks carried out by its staff.
National Air Traffic Services (NATS)
Looks after air traffic control and management, ensuring aircraft flying in UK airspace and over the eastern part of the North Atlantic are safely separated.
History
Glasgow Airport is proud to serve Scotland and has done so for over 50 years.
14 November 1960
Government decision to replace Renfrew Airport with a new one at Abbotsinch as it had reached capacity – Glasgow Corporation would be responsible for its operation
May 1965
Construction of the new airport commenced at a cost of £4.5m to build the new airport designed by Sir Basil Spence
2 May 1966
Glasgow Airport opens for business
27 June 1966
Her Majesty The Queen officially opened the airport
1 May 1967
Glasgow Airport handled 654 different
June 1967
Transatlantic services commenced
September 1972
Glasgow handled its first visits form wide-bodied jets – a Lockheed TriStar and the following month a Laker DC-10
6 January 1975
Agreement was reached for ownership of Glasgow Airport to transfer from Glasgow Corporation to the British Airports Authority effective from 1st April 1975
12 January 1975
British Airways introduced the London Shuttle with Trident 1Cs
24 October 1975
Alitalia operated the first Boeing 747 into Glasgow
12 May 1976
The European Cup Final (Bayern Munich v St Etienne at Hampden) saw Glasgow’s busiest day since opening with over 60 aircraft on the airfield by kick-off time
June 1976
A £2m extension of the passenger terminal was commenced to allow capacity to increase to 3.5m
11 October 1981
British Airways’ Concorde arrived in Glasgow for the first time. It flew a commemorative flight between Glasgow and London
February 1983
“Shuttle 6F” – Trident 1C G-ARPP flew its last flight before being delivered to the Airport Fire Service as a training aircraft
7 June 1983
A NASA Boeing 747 with Space Shuttle Enterprise on top made a low flyover Glasgow
30 August 1983
British Airways introduced the London Super Shuttle services and to celebrate brought 3 Concorde to Glasgow
May 1984
The first regular B747 commenced for Aviaco flying to Tenerife
November 1985
First, ever easyJet flight touches down in Glasgow from Luton
27 March 1985
Glasgow had its first visit of a Boeing 767 – Britannia Airways
29 December 1985
The last Trident aircraft flight took place at Glasgow Airport
16 March 1988
Air 2000 launched its Glasgow operation using the Boeing 757
March 1989
The biggest ever development since the airport was built commenced with a 3-year £55m expansion of the terminal (expanding by 70% of its original size)
6 March 1990
The change of Prestwick’s transatlantic gateway status provided the opportunity for both British and foreign airlines to fly scheduled services from Glasgow
October 1990
BAA plc revealed plans for a further £60m development of the airport providing a new international pier, baggage hall and immigration area
15 June 1992
HRH, The Princess Royal officially opened the extension to the main terminal
11 June 1997
Glasgow had its first Boeing 777 visit –a medical diversion – United Airlines
16 July 1998
Continental Airlines commenced its Glasgow to New York service
1 January 2000
First commercial flight of the 21st century from Glasgow was the Loganair Air Ambulance
June 2004
Terminal 2 opens to allow increased check-in capacity, now with a total of 38 gates
July 2006
BAA plc was taken over by a consortium led by Ferrovial for £10.1bn, to
latterly be known as Heathrow Airport Holdings
October 2006
A £32m terminal development plan was approved to consolidate the security search
facilities and increase the airside area of the terminal creating a central departure lounge
1 July 2007
Glasgow Airport reopened in just under 24hrs after it was targeted in a terrorist attack
October 2008
£31m terminal extension launched
4 January 2010
Glasgow Airport’s community fund, The FlightPath Fund, was launched
April 2010
Icelandair moves its entire hub operation from Iceland to Glasgow during the
eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano
10 July 2013
Glasgow Airport launches a new brand identity to give a ‘Sense of Place’
16 July 2014
Sir Chris Hoy MBE officially opens the new International Arrivals area
23 July – 3 August 2014
Over 4000 athletes and officials from 71 commonwealth nations travel through the airport as part
of the XX Commonwealth Games
October 2014
Ryanair commences services from Glasgow Airport
18 December 2014
Glasgow Airport is sold as part of a group including Aberdeen and
Southampton from Heathrow
May 2015
WestJet Airlines of Canada chooses Glasgow as its first UK airport and its second in Europe after
Dublin. Daily flights operate May to October between Glasgow and Halifax/Toronto
September 2015
Air Transat announces Scotland’s first ever direct link to Montreal. First flight departs 30 May 2016
September 2015
Air Canada announces its return to Glasgow Airport in June 2016 with three flights a week to Toronto
November 2015
£1m mark reached for The FlightPath Fund
December 2015
Air France returns to Glasgow with a daily service to Paris Charles de Gaulle from March 2016
December 2015
Romanian airline Blue Air commences twice-weekly service to Bucharest, Romania
December 2015
Glasgow Airport records its largest ever annual passenger increase with over 1 million additional
passengers added in 12 months. Total passengers in 2015 were 8.7million, the busiest year since the
peak in passengers of 2007 – 8.8million passengers
January 2016
South Korean Tour Operator Hanjin Travel and Korean Air will launch Scotland’s first
ever direct link to Seoul in August 2016 when it commences a short series of charter
flights to bring South Korean tourists to Scotland
27 March 2016
Air France launches services from Glasgow Airport
28 April 2016
The first-ever aircraft on land at Glasgow Airport, the Cherokee 6 returns
to Glasgow to mark 50th anniversary with a special flight
2 May 2016
Official 50 year anniversary of first commercial flight landing at Glasgow Airport
7 June 2016
Delta Airlines announces a new service from Glasgow to New York’s JFK
airport starting May 2017
8 June 2016
The oldest trophy in the world of golf, the Claret Jug, touched down at Glasgow
Airport ahead of the 145th Open at Royal Troon in July
8 June 2016
The oldest trophy in the world of golf, the Claret Jug, touched down at Glasgow
Airport ahead of the 145th Open at Royal Troon in July
8 July 2016
HRH, The Princess Royal visits Glasgow Airport to commemorate 50th anniversary
September 2016
More routes from Ryanair to Lisbon, Palanga, Lithuania, Valencia, Zadar, and Croatia.
2016
Over 9million passengers in 2016. Our busiest year ever.
June 2017
Virgin Atlantic operates its largest ever programme to Orlando and celebrates 10 years on the route
September & October 2017
Madrid, Frankfurt, and Krakow take flight with Ryanair.
October 2017
Lufthansa announces year-round service to Munich.
2017
Will top 2016 and be our busiest year ever.
Thomas Cook launched their winter service to Hurghada.
Delta Air Lines launched their summer daily service to JFK.
Air Transat celebrated their 25th anniversary flying from Glasgow Airport.
2018
Lufthansa launches daily year-round service to Frankfurt.
Thomas Cook launch summer service to Enfidha.
United Airlines will celebrate their 20th anniversary flying from Glasgow Airport.
2019
Air Transport Movements per year: 92,000
Passengers Per Year: 8.8 million
Air Cargo Per Year: 12,822 tonnes
Airlines: 20
Destinations: 100 +
The Emirates A380 made a historic return to Glasgow Airport, flying double daily to Dubai from April 2019.
Planning and development
Our vision for Glasgow Airport is to be Scotland’s preferred business and leisure airport by developing a strong and lasting route network and delivering an unrivalled customer experience. Our master plan, which was updated in 2011, sets out a clear strategy for future airport development aligned to this vision.
Glasgow Airport is an asset of strategic national importance, providing employment for more than 7,300 people across Scotland and generating nearly £200 million annually for the economy, more than any other airport in Scotland. As the airport grows, so too will the substantial contribution it makes to Scotland’s economic success.Not only does the master plan outline how the airport can grow to accommodate increased passenger demand up to 2040, it considers the benefits of a successful and growing airport that underpins both the local and wider Scottish economy.
Masterplan (1,809KB PDF)
Indicative proposal maps (2MB PDF)
Noise contour maps (1.9MB PDF)
Airport Surface Access Strategy
Glasgow Airport’s Surface Access Strategy can be viewed here. (3MB PDF)
Glasgow Airport Strategic Transport Appraisal Part 2 Executive Summary
Glasgow Airport jointly commissioned a review of strategic transport with Glasgow City Council, Renfrewshire Council and Transport Scotland. The Glasgow Airport strategic transport apprisal part 2 executive summary document can be viewed below after it was completed in March 2014.
The Glasgow Airport strategic transport appraisal part 2. (103KB PDF)
Visit our Media Centre
You can also visit our Media Centre where you will find press releases relating to any relevant developments
Media CentreSafeguarding
Airport Operators Association (AOA)
Useful advice notes providing information and guidance on safeguarding issues
Airport Operators Association (AOA)