Glasgow Airport Express – The Big Purple Tourist Trap

The title of this post will make sense when you see the price, but like every other review online, you need to wait for that.

The Glasgow Airport Express Bus is operated by First Bus and provides a direct link between Glasgow City Centre and the Airport, with multiple stops throughout the city, designed to make it as easy as possible to reach the airport (minus a significant chunk of you bank balance).

The Route and Timetable

I will start with the positives, the service stops at a number of locations that would be beneficial for a first time visitor to Glasgow. Stops include;

• Bothwell Street at Hope Street (the closest to Glasgow Central Station)
• Queen Street Station (for trains to Edinburgh, Stirling, Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness)
• Buchannan Bus Station (for local and long distance bus services)

During the day the service also runs up to every 10 minutes, ideal for an airport service as it means, in theory, you should never need to wait long for one during the day.

There is one issue with the timetable, between midnight and 5am, it runs once every hour, meaning if you miss one you need to wait 60 minutes or take a taxi.

The Onboard Product

There isn’t much to say here if I am honest, all the buses are double decker operated, with seats available on both floors, and a large luggage rack on the lower level.

I found the seats and ride comfortable enough and the at seat USB chargers have always worked when I travelled on the service.

One thing that I did find unusual, I was travelling in December 2023, yet the onboard digital advertising display was promoting COP22, which took place over a year before my journey, in my opinion, this screen provides an ideal place to provide flight information, especially check-in information as Glasgow Airport uses two “terminals” for check-in.

The Biggest Issue – Price

The price is the same regardless of where in the city you are travelling, not that it makes it any better.

A single journey on this service will cost you, £11! For context, the table below highlights the cost of reaching the 10 busiest airports in the UK.

	One Way Price (On The Day Price)	Approx Price Per Mile
London Heathrow	£13.90 (Elizabeth Line)	70.6 pence per mile
London Gatwick	£15.10 (Thameslink)	53.6 pence per mile
Manchester	£6.70 (anytime train)	64.9 pence per mile
London Stansted	£25 (Stansted Express)	69.4 pence per mile
London Luton	£24.10 (East Midlands Railway)	77.49 pence per mile
Edinburgh	£4.50 (Brightbus)	56 pence per mile
Birmingham	£3.50 (West Midlands Railway)	43.75 pence per mile
Bristol	£9 (Bristol Airport Flyer)	91 pence per mile
Glasgow	£11 (Glasgow Airport Express)	113.4 pence per mile
Belfast International	£9 (Translink Service 300)	48.6 pence per mile

As the above table shows, Glasgow is by far the most expensive airport in the UK to reach using the fastest means of transportation, coming in 9p per mile more expensive than Bristol Airport in second place.

Why Is It So Expensive?

First Bus will tell you part of the reason for the high price is that operating costs necessitate higher fares being charged (and airports are prime money making routes).

My theory behind the high price is that First know that, so long as it costs less than a taxi, people will use it. The Airport also know that with limited public transport options available, you need to use one of the following options.

• The Bus – Paying a supplement on the ticket for use of the airport facilities.
• Get dropped off – using the official drop off point means you need to pay £5.50 to the airport.
• Take a taxi – airport taxis have to pay the airport for use of the rank, and a taxi from the city has to pay the drop off fee mentioned above.

Regardless of the option, the airport makes money, unless you use the free drop off and wait for the bus to the terminal – find out more on the free drop off via the airport website (under “Free Long Stay Pick Up & Drop Off”).

Is There An Alternative

Yes, there are a couple of alternatives for you to use, I have outlined them both below.

Option 1

Take the 757 service operated by McGill’s to Paisley – £3.20 for a single ticket.

After getting off the bus, turn right and walk to Paisley Gilmour Street Station, it takes less than 2 minutes.

Once in the station trains to Glasgow depart from both platform 1 and platform 3, with a single ticket costing £4.60.

The total cost of this method is £7.80, with a journey time of approximately 30 minutes (this varies depending on waiting times in Paisley).

Option 2

Take the 757 service operated by McGill’s to Paisley. When you get off the bus, turn left, then right, then left and you will be on Gauze Street.

Take McGill’s service 38 which runs up to every 8 minutes during the day into Glasgow.

The best value ticket for this option depends on the number of passengers travelling, I have summarised the information in the table below.

Number of Passengers	Ticket Type	Price
1	Day Saver	£5.50
2	Duo Saver	£9.50
3, 4 or 5	Group Saver	£14.00

My Final Thoughts

I honestly think this service is nothing short of a rip-off for the service provided. AGS Airports (who own Glasgow Airport) give the impression that passengers will pay sky high prices to reach the airport just to fly to a limited number of destinations.

The other major airport in Scotland, Edinburgh, not only has them well and truly trumped when it comes to airlines and route networks, but has also published an extensive “Surface Access Strategy” on how it aims to improve public transport for their customers.

So long as Glasgow Airport maintains its lacklustre public transport network, the airport can expect, at best, limited growth compared to its rivals, who have services from across the country, yes Glasgow Airport is a business that needs to make money, but pricing customers out of accessing the airport is the polar opposite of what needs to be done.