From the archives: Traffic at Prestwick; 27 July 1950
MR FRANK Beswick, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, brought down a storm upon his own head in the House of Commons today by asserting that if BOAC were dissatisfied with conditions at Prestwick Airport – as was claimed by Lord Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton (C, Inverness) – their dissatisfaction should not be expressed through Parliamentary questions.
This noisy introduction to Question Time resulted when Lord Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton asked what were the limitations at Prestwick Airport for handling Trans-atlantic aircraft, and what steps Mr Beswick was taking to remove them. Mr Beswick said whether any additional runway length is necessary to enable operators to take full advantage, under all conditions, of the recently increased all-up weight of the Strato-cruiser is at present under investigation.