Glasgow Airport arrivals today

Today’s Glasgow Airport arrivals are all on the live board below: scheduled time, estimated time, airline, origin and current status for every flight landing at Glasgow today, updated continuously until the aircraft is on the ground. Glasgow is Scotland’s second-busiest airport, with more than 7 million passengers a year, and everything landing here today, from the Loganair Twin Otter back from Barra to the Emirates 777 from Dubai, is on this one page. It is the quickest way to check flight arrivals at Glasgow before you set off to meet someone, and the surest way to watch how a delay is developing.

Picking someone up: the £7 zone, the free Long Stay and the 500 bus

Glasgow is a single-terminal airport, which keeps collecting someone simple: every passenger, whether off a Loganair island flight or a long-haul arrival, comes through the same arrivals hall on the ground floor. From touchdown to that hall usually takes 15 to 35 minutes; domestic and island flights are quickest, since there is no passport control, while a full aircraft from outside the Common Travel Area at a busy moment takes longest.

What stopping at the terminal costs is the question we hear most. There is no free stopping at the doors: the Express drop-off and pick-up area beside the terminal charges £7 for up to 15 minutes, and staying longer means a much higher charge on exit. The free option is the Long Stay car park, where you can leave the car for up to 1 hour at no charge and either wait there or take the free shuttle bus to the terminal. The sensible routine is to park there, watch this board on your phone, and only move once the flight shows Landed. Charges change, so believe the signs on the day.

By public transport, the Glasgow Airport Express, bus 500, runs between the terminal and Buchanan bus station in the city centre in about 15 minutes, up to every 10 minutes by day and 24 hours a day at a lower frequency overnight, calling at Central and Queen Street stations on the way. The nearest railway station is Paisley Gilmour Street, just over a mile from the terminal, with the McGill’s 757 bus or a taxi for the last stretch; there is no rail link to the terminal itself. For anyone meeting a passenger without a car, the 500 to the terminal and back is the simplest answer.

Reading the board, and following the aircraft in

The column to trust is the estimated time, not the scheduled one. Scheduled is what the timetable promised this morning; the estimate follows the actual aircraft and is recalculated all the way in, so a Jet2 flight that left Tenerife 25 minutes late can still land close to its slot with a tailwind up the Irish Sea. The status column shows Departed once the aircraft has left its origin, Expected while it is airborne, Landed once it is on the runway, and Diverted when it has gone elsewhere: at Glasgow that usually means Edinburgh or Prestwick when fog or a strong westerly gale closes the approach.

If a status word is not enough, take the flight number from the board and put it into the live flight radar on our homepage to find the aircraft in the air. Better still, open the Glasgow flight radar page, where you can watch inbound traffic come down the Clyde or across Renfrewshire onto the single runway at Abbotsinch, which is the most reliable answer there is to the question “where are they now?”.

Island flights, the Loganair base and the winter weather

Two local facts explain much of what you will see on this board. The first is that Glasgow is the home base of Loganair, the airline of the Scottish islands, and the airport where the island network meets the mainland. Through the day the board fills with short-haul arrivals from Barra, whose aircraft lands on the beach at low tide, from Tiree, Campbeltown, Islay, Benbecula, Stornoway, Kirkwall and Sumburgh, flown by small turboprops that show up on the radar as tiny, slow symbols against the airliners. These are the flights most affected by weather: an island service can be delayed by a beach tide, a crosswind or low cloud that would not trouble a jet, and the estimated time on this board is the honest guide. British Airways also sells a number of Loganair’s flights from Glasgow under its own BA numbers, so a BA flight on this board may well be a Loganair aircraft.

The second is the shape of the rest of the schedule. easyJet, Jet2 and British Airways carry most of the passengers, with Jet2 running its holiday waves back from Spain, the Canaries and Portugal in the afternoon and evening, Emirates arriving daily from Dubai and KLM from Amsterdam. The busiest arrival period is the late afternoon, when the London shuttles, the island flights and the holiday returns land within the same 2 hours, and the board is at its most useful.

Frequently asked questions

Is there free pick-up at Glasgow Airport?

Yes, in the Long Stay car park, free for up to 1 hour, with a free shuttle bus to the terminal. The Express zone beside the terminal costs £7 for up to 15 minutes.

How long after landing before passengers come through?

Usually 15 to 35 minutes. Domestic and island flights have no passport control and are quickest; a full international arrival at a busy moment takes longest.

Why does the estimated time for an island flight keep changing?

Because small turboprops are sensitive to wind and cloud, and Barra depends on the tide. The estimate follows the aircraft live and settles as it nears the airport; the radar shows where it is.

Where are Glasgow departures?

On the Glasgow departures page. Meeting a flight in the north of England instead? Our Manchester Airport arrivals board works exactly the same way.