The amount of press releases this year announcing Chinese connections out of Glasgow appear to know no end. Now, in the week of the e-commerce annual highlight, Black Friday, the Scottish Airport announces that it has doubled the number of weekly Air China Cargo flights linking it with China. Now eight instead of four weekly freighter services carry freight between the two countries. This is because Air China Cargo has also begun flying from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU), China, in addition to its existing flights out of Guangzhou (CAN). Chengdu-Prestwick connections began on 22NOV25, and are served by an A330 freighter.
“Air China Cargo established its UK cargo hub at PIK in June earlier this year, and the airport also services regular scheduled flights from China Southern Air Logistics and Beijing Capital Airlines,” the release states. Hong Kong Air Cargo also began flying to Glasgow very early on this year. CargoForwarder Global has reported on the airport’s growth throughout. See: https://cargoforwarder.eu/?s=Glasgow+China&post_type=post
Glasgow Airport states that the growth in services has resulted in an increase of 200 jobs at the airport, and its one-million-pound investment “in new equipment and a dedicated cool chain team allowed the airport to launch a new Scotland to China seafood export service in September”.
Ian Forgie, Chief Executive Officer, PIK, detailed: “Air China Cargo’s decision to double its flights from Prestwick, is a strong vote of confidence in our team and our cargo capacity. The past six months have been among the busiest in Prestwick’s history, as we have welcomed three new scheduled cargo operators and expanded our facilities to support sustained growth. This has been a transformational year, and we expect this momentum to continue into 2026 as we deepen our role as a strategic gateway between the United Kingdom and the rest of the world.”
