The West Coast of Scotland is, in my opinion, the most scenic area of the country, but despite that has always been a bit of a challenge to access from Glasgow Airport thanks to a rather inconsistent timetable by CityLink.

Ember, an all electric coach operator aims to change that by providing a range of routes throughout the country with the aim of providing a cheaper, greener alternative to their competitors, as well as the car or train.

In May 2025 the company announced their new “E5” route from Glasgow to Fort William which includes a stop at Glasgow Airport, but has it solved any of the problems or are we just looking at another missed opportunity? I decided to put that to the test by travelling between Tarbet and Glasgow Airport last month.

Booking the Journey

I booked my ticket on the Ember website, which I must say is excellent, and it is significantly easier to navigate and understand than Scottish CityLink.

Tickets are a flat price regardless of how close to departure you book them, the only caveat being you must book at least 10 minutes before departure so the bus knows to stop. After booking you will be sent a confirmation email which acts as your ticket and contains information on where your bus stop is located, and how to track the vehicle.

This particular service operates 4x day, I have included a full timetable for both operators at the end of this review.

The Journey

The stop in Tarbet is located across from the Tarbet Hotel and looks like any other bus stop in a small town – a shelter and a sign saying “Bus Stop”.

Interestingly times for the CityLink services are printed and posted at the stop, but services operated by Ember are accessed via QR codes at the stop instead – this might be the fault of SPT who are responsible for updating these printed timetables.

There is only one route from here operated by Ember which runs from Fort William to Buchanan Bus Station, so there is no risk of getting on the wrong bus.

As requested I was at the stop 10 minutes before the scheduled departure time of 1515 which was ideal as my service was running ahead of schedule, arriving at 1511.

One passenger alighted the bus and I was the only one to board, as a result, rather than showing my ticket the driver just asked me to confirm my destination before letting me board – and he was very friendly and welcoming.

Ember does not operate assigned seats, rather you board and take any seat you would like, ideal for me as there were only 5 other passengers onboard.

The Onboard Experience

I can really only describe the onboard experience with one word – exceptional!

The seats are soft and comfortable and I found I had plenty of space (I’m 6ft 3 for context) and could easily make myself comfortable for what ended up being a very short journey – but more on that later.

It was clear that great pride was taken by both Ember and the driver in the onboard environment, bags were placed throughout the bus for rubbish.

Each seat on this particular coach was equipped with a USB-A and USB-C charger, and some rows also have a traditional 3 pin socket for laptops or other small personal electrical devices to be charged from – so good luck finding an excuse to not charge your device.

Not only does Ember provide the power outlets, but their website also states that their drivers try to carry a couple of charging cables as well and that you should ask when you board if you can borrow one – good luck getting that on ScotRail or CityLink!

As for luggage provision, every passenger can bring a small bag that fits under their seat or in the overhead racks, and is also allowed to bring two medium sized, or one large, bags that can be put into the storage area under the passenger cabin.

At this point I should add that Ember has added additional stops to this route since I travelled, and full details of stops can be found on their website.

The journey itself was rather uneventful and remarkably short, we arrived into Glasgow Airport at 1558, a full 14 minutes ahead of schedule. Ember uses Stance 8 at Glasgow Airport – although there was no printed timetable or QR code at this stop, my understanding is SPT are responsible for this and not Glasgow Airport or Ember bus but if I get any further information I will update this post.

Myself and another passenger exited the bus here, and thanks to the early arrival time the coach sat here for a couple of minutes before continuing towards Glasgow – you can also book this service just between the airport and the city saving 60% or so compared to First Bus, so double check if this is an option for you.

Does This Service Fix The CityLink Frequency Issue?

To an extent yes it does. Although both operators operate 4 services per day, Ember services are more spread out throughout the day compared to CityLink who are condensed into a window as small as 3 hours.

There does however seem to be a rather obvious glaring hole in the timetable of both operators, a big A380 sized hole.

During the Summer Emirates operates their flight into Glasgow with an arrival time of 1245, yet most passengers won’t be able to travel up the West Coast of Scotland by bus from the closest airport until 1735, some rather brave people may aim for the 1329, but you would need everything to go perfectly for that to happen, and you can forget waiting for a checked bag.

Passengers arriving with Icelandair are also in the same position, and considering the airline carries a significant number of North American tourists to Scotland it seems to me (albeit an outsider), to be a missed opportunity. A service timed, and crucially, promoted to these passengers would likely be of benefit to them, even if just during the summer.

The Elephant in the Room – Marketing

I just said a service timed to meet Emirates and Icelandair passengers would be ideal if it was marketed to them – well let me rephrase that.

The existing service would also benefit from being marketed to passengers!

Unlike Flixbus who have a passing mention on the Glasgow Airport website – Ember has nothing, not even a brief mention.

Not only did I check the website, but I also searched on X for any mention of the service and sure enough, this was the result;

To play devil’s advocate for a moment here, Edinburgh Airport also hasn’t tweeted about them, but they at least mention them on their website.

The map below (sorry for the size) could serve as an inspiration point for updating the map on the airports website, providing a simple overview of the routes available, and can be changed if more services are added.

Was It Worth It?

Yes, I felt this journey was easy and offered good value for money, with my ticket costing £7.30, compare this to Scottish CityLink who charge £13.10 for the same journey and it is a no brainer to travel with Ember if the time works.

Ember has announced they are launching more routes across the country this year, and it will be interesting to see if Glasgow Airport features in any of these announcements.