Special assistance - Persons with Reduced Mobility (PRM)

Getting to the Airport

By Bus, Train or Taxi

Travelling to Glasgow Airport by bus is easy as there are several services connecting with Glasgow city centre, other local destinations and beyond. Many have low floors and are easily accessible for wheelchair users. There are dedicated Help Points at the bus and coach stands and these are listed above.

If booking a Glasgow Airport taxi and you can get dropped off right outside the Main Terminal building and all of these cars are wheelchair accessible. The taxi rank is immediately outside of the terminal and the driver can arrange any assistance required.

More information on buses taxis and trains can be found here.

By Car - dropping off

Glasgow Airport’s new dedicated pick-up and drop-off facility are located directly across from the main terminal. Drivers dropping people off should use this facility for quick transactions under 10-minutes only. If picking someone up please make sure the person has cleared immigration (if applicable), has collected any luggage and is ready to meet you. The facility has three zones – coded A, B, and C – to help you coordinate your pick-up. Please note zone C is suitable for all types of vehicles including coaches and mini-buses.

If you plan to enter the terminal with someone you are dropping off, or to meet a passenger arriving back in Glasgow, you should use Car Park 2.

You can view a map of our current road layout here. This includes the location of our Long-Stay Car Park, where drivers can also wait-free for up to 30 minutes. There is a free shuttle bus available to take passengers between the Long-Stay Car Park and the main terminal building. It operates every 10 to 15 minutes and takes approximately five minutes.

Picking up

There is a dedicated pickup area on the ground floor of Car Park 2 and there are marked blue badge spaces within this area. For details of charges click here.

Drivers with a blue badge should NOT use the pick-up and drop-off facility. Blue badge holders should use Car Park 2 opposite the terminal building, where they will be entitled to up to 30 minutes of free parking.

Parking

Blue badge spaces are available in our car parks as detailed below

• Car Park 2 has 10 spaces on the ground floor plus a help point
• All other floors have 12 spaces but no help points
• All floors have access to 4 accessible lifts
• Car Park 1 has 4 spaces on the ground floor of the multi-storey part. There is no call point. The nearest call point is in the area near the pelican crossing.

All blue badge holders are entitled to 30 minutes free parking by presenting their blue badge at the kiosk in any of our car parks.

For more information on car parking and charges click here.

At Glasgow Airport, you’ll easily spot our team of friendly, roving Ambassadors who are on hand to answer any questions you may have about any aspect of your visit.

You can also get information on onwards ground transport options on our to and from website page.

 

Our security staff are required under government legislation to carry out a hand-search whenever a passenger activates the archway metal detector alarm. If you are a wheelchair user, that’s likely to be the case. We recognise that it may be more suitable to have this search carried out away from the main search area, so please don’t hesitate to request this. Private search areas are located within the Central Search Area. If you have any questions or queries throughout the Security process, please do not hesitate to ask for one of our Security Supervisors.

For guidance on hand luggage restriction at the airport please click here.

For additional detailed guidance on certain items that can cause issues at airport security please read the following document (PDF)

PRM Events 2019/20

 

PRM Consultation & Events

As part of our commitment to consult with local disability groups, we hold a variety of events throughout the year. Below is a list of activities we’ve conducted recently.

 

PRM Forum

Unfortunately, our rescheduled PRM Forum on 16^th March 2020 has had to be cancelled at very short notice due to current world events. This has led to many people attending having to cancel due to work restrictions or for other personal reasons. We will reschedule later in the year when travel restrictions etc. have been relaxed. In the meantime, if anyone wishes any further info on the PRM service or requires help or advice please contact our service provider at GLA.PRMLeadership@OCS.co.uk

 

Healthy Working Week

On the week commencing 3^rd of Feb we held our annual Glasgow Airport Health week and also invited the Stroke Association and Alzheimer Scotland to take part and provide information and support advice to both staff and members of the public. Following this we have made arrangements to meet again with the Stroke Association to update our staff awareness and training material.

 

Dementia Friends Workshops

On the 29^th January we had the next of our planned series of Dementia Friends awareness sessions for all of our front line staff where we had around 70 more of our staff present and feedback has been great from our staff.

 

PRM Forum

Our planned PRM forum on the 17^th January unfortunately had to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. Another date will be arranged in the near future as soon as possible if you wish to attend please contact us at GLA.PRMLeadership@OCS.co.uk

 

Ian Hamilton (BBC Scotland)

We met with Ian from the BBC to try to raise awareness of the PRM services available at GLA and the improvements that have been made, in particular the implementation of fully trackable IT system (Avtech Connect) and the improvements to performance made and the benefits of pre-booking correctly with your airline to ensure a smoother and quicker passenger experience.

 

RAP

We met again with Renfrewshire Access Panel on the 6 December and are aiming to provide some formal training for our Glasgow Airport Taxi drivers and Forecourt Ambassadors. We hope to roll this out in early 2020.

 

Alzheimer Scotland

On the 4^th and 5^th of December we held the first in a series of planned sessions with Alzheimer Scotland who are delivering Dementia Friends awareness and training sessions to our front line staff. The aim is to have Dementia Friends across every front line department.

 

Prevalis

We engaged with Prevalis on the 8^th November as we are currently trialling a newer PRM transfer hoist which is currently under development and being rolled out for use. Feedback from the users has been very positive and the equipment seems suitable for a large range of aircraft types and sizes.

 

RAP

We met with Renfrewshire Access Panel on the 4^th and 31^st October to start preparation for our next PRM Forum. We were also engaging on design advice for new accessible toilets which are being constructed for our airside departures area.

 

OCS National awards

On the 2^nd October, Jim Lobban, OCS Glasgow Airport skill trainer received the Fresh thinking Award in recognition for the work he does in connection with hidden disabilities at Glasgow Airport and in particular for the efforts in facilitating pre visits for passengers with autism. This is also recognised locally and Jim highly deserved the recognition nationally for the care and compassion and selfless drive in his efforts to improve the ability for others to travel.

 

Newcastle Airport Visit

On 18^th of September we facilitated a visit with Newcastle International Airport to share best practice on the service provided to our passengers who use the Special Assistance service. Following this visit, Newcastle have kindly offered to reciprocate the visit and we will hopefully arrange this in the new year.

 

Parkinson’s Support Group

On Monday the 16^th September we visited the Glasgow South Parkinson’s support group after receiving an invite from the group chair. We were invited to present on the service that was available to all at the airport and many were unaware of the hidden disability assistance available or that it could be individually tailored to the user. Feedback was very positive and we are also planning on updating our internal training following this and the work with Alzheimer Scotland when completed.

 

Aberdeen Visit

On the 16^th August we visited Aberdeen to assess some assistance equipment to help in boarding process for Loganair. Having assessed to proposed equipment work is ongoing with the airline to introduce as soon as practical when they arrive.

 

PRM Open Forum

On the 30^th of July we had our PRM open forum chaired by Renfrewshire Access Panel (RAP). The event was held in the airport Holiday Inn and attended by a wide range of local user groups and individuals, including Alzheimer Scotland, Ramble Tag and representative from Renfrewshire Council (Inequalities) who all gave a presentation on their work. We gave updates on the year to date performance and other ongoing work and improvements to the service. Some actions taken included arranging further Dementia training and to investigate “mystery shopper” type audit by a user group.

 

Glasgow City Council Autism Awareness

On the 25^th of July we attended the first of two full day Autism Awareness training session run by Glasgow City Council. We sent representatives and trainers from every front line facing department over the course of two days including our PRM assistance provider, Security Team, Safety and First Aid Team, Airport Ambassadors, Taxi and Onward Travel Service and Customer Services management team who are now all recognised as being Autism champions within their respective area of the business.

 

EasyJet Customer Contact Centre visit

On the 26^th June we facilitated a visit with EasyJet customer contact centre who wanted to gain a better understanding of the PRM booking process and assistance that is provided at airports in the UK. The aim was to help better equip them when dealing with a customer call by having a greater awareness from and operational point of view. This was beneficial on both sides and both gained a greater understanding of each other’s roles and needs.

 

Renfrewshire Access Panel

On the 10^th May 2019 we met to again prep for our planned open forum and arrange invites etc. We also met to discuss and facilitate planned training for drivers of the Glasgow Airport taxis on correct assistance and carriage of PRM passengers.

 

Heathrow PRM Workshop

On the 2-3 May 2019 we attended a UK and Europe wide PRM event where the proposed changes to EC1107/2006 were discussed along with the current IATA guides and codes for passengers and the need for more meaningful information for PRM providers and challenges on the aviation industry to improve pre-notification and assistance provided to passengers. Others issues raised included training and ease of booking process as well as the need to improve the service for all.

 

AOA Joint industry PRM meeting

On the 23 April we attended the AOA PRM meeting and discussions took place around proposed UK passenger charter and specifically around the needs of PRM passengers.  This is running in parallel to a similar CAA workstream and we took actions to ensure that the current Glasgow Airport Charter is still aligned with both.

 

Renfrewshire Access Panel

On the 5th April 2019 we again met with RAP to discuss the agenda and delegates for the Airport PRM forum to be held on the 30^th July.

Renfrewshire Access Panel

On the 15^th March 2019 we met with Renfrewshire Access Panel to discuss outcomes and actions from the event on the 12^th March and to plan the next Airport PRM forum in July 2019. We have also asked to set up a joint meeting with some other user groups and in the first instance have asked to meet with MS society and to meet with one of our local groups with hearing loss.

 

Disability Equality Scotland

On the 12^th March 2019 we took part and presented on some of the recent work we have been doing with various disability groups and shared our current performance and feedback etc. with the users groups. Following this in the afternoon we facilitated group discussions with some local disability groups and have agreed to meet individually with some of the groups to share information on the services we offer.

 

Transport Scotland

On the 7^th March we took part in the Transport Scotland accessible transport conference, a follow up from the event in Edinburgh in 2018. Transport Scotland has a 10 year plan to imbed their accessible travel framework across all modes of transport and we are working with them to help deliver this plan. Information was shared by a European Commission shared information that consultation is underway to review and update EC1107/2006 and publication expected by third quarter 2019.

 

Disability Equality Scotland

On the 25^th of January 2019 we also met with D.E.S. who wanted our help and engagement to run a Renfrewshire accessible transport event which would bring together transport users and ourselves along with other transport providers e.g. buses and taxis. We shared our local contacts and assisted with suggesting local disability groups and agreed to take part in the event in March.

 

Transport Providers Accessibility Forum

On the 25^th January 2019 we met again with other transport providers to progress and update actions from the larger accessible transport framework whose aim is to make transport more seamless for passengers with reduced mobility. Discussions included review of training for all staff and how we engage with user groups. Some good practice shared and following talks with First bus we aim to run a similar event which will allow staff to gain a better insight on the difficulties faced by some service user groups.

 

For previous consultations click below:

PRM Consultation 2018 (PDF)

PRM Consultation 2015 - 2017 (PDF)