Prestwick passenger numbers down 20 per cent

PASSENGER numbers at Infratil-owned Prestwick airport in Ayrshire have plummeted by 20 per cent in the year to March, falling to 1.2 million — the lowest for a decade.

• Passenger total fell from 1.52m in 2010-11 to 1.22m last year

• The March total — was down from 79,533 to 57,122

The airport has been put up for sale by its New Zealand owners after struggling to attract new airlines and cutbacks by no-frills carrier Ryanair, which accounts for most of its flights.

Prestwick — 30 miles south of Glasgow — also faces increased competition from the city’s airport, where Ryanair is considering launching flights and other airlines like Jet2 are expanding.

Infratil chief executive Marco Bogoievski has described Prestwick as an example of the company’s “under-performing assets”.