Glasgow Flyer
Encyclopedia
Airport bus
An airport bus, or airport shuttle bus or airport shuttle is a bus or coach used to transport people to/from, or within airports. These vehicles will usually be equipped with larger luggage space, and incorporate special branding....
service in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It connected Glasgow Airport
Glasgow Airport
Glasgow Airport may refer to:*Glasgow International Airport, in Renfrewshire, the primary airport serving Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.*Glasgow Airport , also known as Wokal Field, in Glasgow, Montana, United States.It may also refer to:...
to central Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, operating as a shuttle bus via the M8 motorway. In Glasgow city centre
Glasgow city centre
Glasgow city centre is the central business district of Glasgow, Scotland. Is bounded by the High Street to the east, the River Clyde to the south and the M8 motorway to the west and north which was built through the Townhead, Charing Cross, Cowcaddens and Anderston areas in the 1960s...
it operated from the Buchanan bus station
Buchanan bus station
Buchanan Bus Station is the main bus terminus in Glasgow, Scotland.The bus station is the terminus for journeys between the city and other towns in United Kingdom and international journeys. It was originally built in 1977, close to the former site of Buchanan Street railway station which was...
, also calling at Glasgow's two mainline railway termini. It was formerly operated under contract to airport operator BAA until 31 December 2010, but the ongoing contract to operate the service was given to First Glasgow
First Glasgow
First Glasgow is the largest bus company serving the Greater Glasgow area in, Scotland. It forms part of FirstGroup, a company operating transport services across the British Isles and in North America...
from 1 January 2011 and operated as a scheduled Arriva service. The Glasgow Flyer service was discontinued 31 July 2011.
History
The original bus service to Glasgow Airport was route 905, which was operated by Fairline Coaches under contract to Scottish CitylinkScottish Citylink
Scottish Citylink Coaches Ltd is a long distance express coach operator in Scotland and the Republic of Ireland . The company was formed as a subsidiary of Scottish Transport Group in June 1985...
, and ran a similar route. Arriva
Arriva Scotland West
Arriva Scotland West Ltd is a bus operating subsidiary of Arriva based in Inchinnan, near Paisley, Scotland, trading simply as Arriva. It is currently the group's sole operation in Scotland.-Operation:...
also ran extra buses on this route. All buses were in the Scottish Citylink yellow and blue colours, although the timetable stated buses in Fairline's livery may be used on the service at times. In February 2007, the 905 was re-launched with increased frequency and a new livery.
The Glasgow Flyer was announced on 1 June 2007, with a start date of 9 July, and subsequently route 905 was withdrawn. Fairline Coaches instead started a competing independently run service, Glasgow Airport Link
Glasgow Airport Link
Glasgow Airport Link was an airport bus which also looped through the centre of the city in Glasgow, Scotland. The service provided a direct connection to the airport for hotels, tourist destinations, shopping areas, convention and conference facilities, the bus terminal and numerous other...
, using route number 905. In July 2008, Fairline Coaches sold its Glasgow City Centre - Glasgow Airport route 905 to First Glasgow; this service no longer runs.
In late 2009, two of the vehicles used on the service were painted in Arriva's standard livery, to be used on other routes, mainly the X23 run in competition with McGill's. In January 2010 the service ceased to be operated under contract to BAA as the tender was awarded to First Glasgow to continue the BAA branded airport express service under the new name Glasgow Shuttle. However, Arriva continued to operate the Glasgow Flyer in competition with the official provider without BAA support, albeit with a revised livery.
In 2011, Arriva announced the Glasgow Flyer would terminate service on 31 July 2011, citing a lack of access to the Public Transport Zone at Glasgow International Airport
Glasgow International Airport
Glasgow International Airport is an international airport in Scotland, located west of Glasgow city centre, near the towns of Paisley and Renfrew in Renfrewshire...
.
Vehicles used
Arriva invested £1.5 million pounds on 11 new buses for the service. The vehicles are Volvo B7RLEVolvo B7RLE
Volvo B7RLE is a low-floor single-deck citybus launched initially in Australia in 2001, and then in the United Kingdom in 2003 to supplement the B7L single-decker, which was unsuccessful in both countries. It is similar to the B7L's predecessor, the B10BLE...
/Wright Eclipse
Wright Eclipse
The Wright Eclipse is a low-floor single-deck bus body built by Wright on Volvo B7 chassis. It shares its design with the Wright Solar on Scania L94 chassis....
s, in a lime green, black and white livery. Each vehicle emits 13% less carbon emissions than the previous buses used on the service. They were expected in service in November 2007, but the first was launched on the 4 December 2007 at Glasgow Airport. Between the new buses arriving and service starting, a fleet of Plaxton Centro
Plaxton Centro
The Plaxton Centro is a bus body designed by Bluebird Vehicles and manufactured by Plaxton. It was launched on the VDL SB120 in February 2006. The Centro was also made available on the VDL SB200 chassis in 2006. In 2007 the Centro was made available on the MAN 12.240 and the Volvo B7RLE chassis....
s was used, alongside conventional Arriva buses with branding for the service. The Centros are now on standard Arriva
Arriva Scotland West
Arriva Scotland West Ltd is a bus operating subsidiary of Arriva based in Inchinnan, near Paisley, Scotland, trading simply as Arriva. It is currently the group's sole operation in Scotland.-Operation:...
routes. An Optare MetroRider
Optare MetroRider
The Optare MetroRider was a midibus built by Optare between 1989 and 2000. Optare based the original design on the MCW Metrorider after Optare bought the rights following a decision by MCW to end bus production. This model also replaced the less successful StarRider.The MetroRider was an integral...
had been painted into the Glasgow Flyer livery for staff transport duties.
Service features
The service operated at 24-hour service, 7 days a week and all year, with prices lower than the equivalent taxi fare. The service ran every 10 minutes at daytime.Each vehicle had WiFi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
equipment fitted, offered to passengers free of charge, enabling them to access the internet as they traveled.
The vehicles had leather seats, and each had a 3-tier luggage rack. Each bus also had a journey information system, which announced the bus stop the vehicle was due to arrive at shortly before it arrived. It also notified of train and subway stations, hotels and shopping streets.
500
The bus followed a different route in each direction in Glasgow City Centre, due to the one-way trafficOne-way traffic
One-way traffic is traffic that moves in a single direction. A one-way street is a street either facilitating only one-way traffic, or designed to direct vehicles to move in one direction.-General signs:...
system there. The service took approximately 20 minutes in either direction.
Route departing city centre
- Buchanan bus stationBuchanan bus stationBuchanan Bus Station is the main bus terminus in Glasgow, Scotland.The bus station is the terminus for journeys between the city and other towns in United Kingdom and international journeys. It was originally built in 1977, close to the former site of Buchanan Street railway station which was...
, stance 46 - North Hanover Street, for Queen Street stationGlasgow Queen Street railway stationGlasgow Queen Street is a railway station in Glasgow, Scotland, the smaller of the city's two main line railway termini and the third-busiest station in Scotland. It is between George Street to the south and Cathedral Street Bridge to the north, at the northern end of Queen Street adjacent to...
- St Vincent Street
- Waterloo Street, for Central stationGlasgow Central stationGlasgow Central is the larger of the two present main-line railway terminals in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. The station was opened by the Caledonian Railway on 31 July 1879 and is currently managed by Network Rail...
- Direct via M8 motorway
- Glasgow AirportGlasgow International AirportGlasgow International Airport is an international airport in Scotland, located west of Glasgow city centre, near the towns of Paisley and Renfrew in Renfrewshire...
, stance B5
Route departing airport
- Glasgow Airport, stance B5
- Direct via M8 Motorway
- Bothwell Street, for Central station
- West George Street
- North Hanover Street, for Queen Street station
- Buchanan bus station, stance 46
See also
- 747 AirLink
- Glasgow Airport LinkGlasgow Airport LinkGlasgow Airport Link was an airport bus which also looped through the centre of the city in Glasgow, Scotland. The service provided a direct connection to the airport for hotels, tourist destinations, shopping areas, convention and conference facilities, the bus terminal and numerous other...
- List of bus operators of the United Kingdom