Prestwick Aviation Tours
A walk into history
David Milloy
It’d be easy to dismiss Prestwick Airport as an underused facility that once briefly played host to a young Elvis Presley as he waited for the aircraft carrying him home from Germany to be refuelled. Yes, it’d be easy, but it would be wrong, for the airport has a rich and interesting history as a hub for both civil and military aviation as well as being a centre of engineering excellence. It’s a history that deserves a wider airing, and that’s where Allan Mackintosh comes in.
A succession of summer jobs at the airport whilst a student resulted in Allan developing a love and affinity for what was at the time Scotland’s only transatlantic airport. Years later, having reached the other end of his career, Allan had something of an epiphany whilst on a walking tour of the Three Hampdens in Glasgow. As he listened to the tour guide tell of how the modern game of football, in which the ball is passed from one player to another, was pioneered by Queen’s Park FC, it struck Allan that the history of Prestwick Airport deserved to brought back to the public consciousness. So he resolved to do something about it.
That something was a walking tour that would take in many of the locations which played a key part in the story of not only Prestwick Airport but also of aviation in Scotland and beyond. After much research and preparation, Allan conducted his first public tours in October 2023, not knowing quite what the response would be. Any doubts he had about how the tour would be received were, however, quickly and emphatically dispelled by the very positive feedback given by participants.
Fortified by the interest and enthusiasm shown by the public, Allan resumed his walking tours in April 2024. Each scheduled tour, composed of up to 8 people, departs from the Pioneer Cafe at Monkton Community Church and wends its way to HMS Gannet and back, pausing at a number of locations so that Allan can explain that place’s significance in the airport’s story. The tour lasts around two hours and proceeds at a pace that’s comfortable for all.
Allan runs two public tours a week, rising to three a week at the height of summer. In addition, he runs private tours for groups and clubs. Indeed, such has been the popularity of Allan’s tours that he now offers a longer (four hour) tour which takes in both the northern and southern sides of the airport, and which has attracted local walking groups of up to 18 persons.
And there’s more. A virtual tour, produced with the aid of a grant from Destination South Ayrshire, is scheduled to go live this autumn and will include recreations of buildings which no longer exist on the site. Allan has also been involved with facilitating field visits for aviation students from England, having recently put together a ‘Prestwick’ package for University College, Birmingham.
Allan’s focus in all of this is to enlighten people as to the history of the airport and its ongoing role as centre for both aviation – the airport’s freight and stopover operations are both doing well – and engineering. In the slightly longer term, Allan hopes that funding can be found to set up a visitor centre at which artefacts and images can be displayed, thus enabling people to gain an even greater insight into the story of the airport and the aviation industry to which it has long been home.
Allan’s tours now run all year long. The two hour public tour costs £15 for adults and can, along with the four hour tour and private tours, be booked online at www.prestwickaviationtours.com or by calling Allan on 0776 416 8989.
