Glasgow Prestwick Airport has completed a substantial infrastructure upgrade to support Royal Air Force Voyager operations under Project MACE, with an RAF Voyager becoming the first aircraft to operate from the new surface on 2 June, according to specialist airfield contractor Lagan Airport Maintenance Ltd.
The work, delivered by LAML under contract to Glasgow Prestwick Airport, included the construction of four new maintenance pads and more than 70,000 square metres of resurfacing on Apron Charlie. Pavement reconstruction was also carried out to ensure the apron could accommodate the heavier aircraft now using the airport with greater frequency. The company described the project as one of the largest infrastructure investments at Glasgow Prestwick Airport in recent years.
Project MACE is the Ministry of Defence’s arrangement to temporarily host the RAF’s Voyager A330 air-to-air refuelling fleet at Glasgow Prestwick Airport during a major resurfacing of the aerodrome operating surfaces at RAF Brize Norton. The Brize Norton runway, at 3,050 metres one of the busiest in defence, requires a full resurfacing programme that follows years of patch repairs and was last subject to emergency maintenance after heat damage in 2022. The full resurfacing is being delivered by VolkerFitzpatrick under a programme that began enabling works earlier in the year and is scheduled to complete in 2027.
During the period the airfield is closed, all aircraft normally based at RAF Brize Norton are being relocated to alternative sites across the United Kingdom. According to the Royal Air Force, the Atlas and Globemaster fleets will operate primarily out of MoD Boscombe Down with occasional use of Bournemouth Airport, while the A330 Voyager fleet will operate out of Prestwick, East Midlands and Stansted airports. Aircraft began moving in July and are expected to return to Brize Norton in late November once the resurfacing is complete.
The Ministry of Defence selected Prestwick as the principal Voyager dispersal location on the basis that it was the only United Kingdom airport that could accommodate the full seven-aircraft Voyager fleet alongside the secure communications and operational support required. A government transparency notice published in June 2025 set the initial Prestwick contract value at £1.2 million including VAT, covering infrastructure works including the installation of concrete jacking pads required for safe and compliant aircraft maintenance. The MoD stated at the time that, without the temporary facilities, the Voyager fleet would be unable to support the fast jet force that defends United Kingdom airspace.
The Airbus A330 Voyager is the Royal Air Force’s principal air-to-air refuelling and strategic transport aircraft, operated under the AirTanker private finance initiative with the core fleet of fourteen aircraft based at RAF Brize Norton. The type carries out a wide range of tasks beyond air-to-air refuelling, including movement of personnel and freight on routine air bridge runs, support to operational deployments, and the carriage of ministers and senior officials. The aircraft’s size and weight place demanding requirements on the airfield infrastructure that hosts it, and pavement strength has been a recurring consideration for sites looking to support the type.
LAML described the works at Prestwick as having been completed on programme and without incident despite what the company called challenging weather conditions. The conclusion of the project was marked by the 2 June Voyager arrival on the upgraded surface, which the contractor characterised as a demonstration of immediate operational utility.
The company also thanked its supply chain partners for the delivery of the work.
Glasgow Prestwick Airport, owned by the Scottish Government since 2013, has long held ambitions for a more substantial role within the United Kingdom’s defence and civil aviation footprint. The site is the only airport in Scotland with a runway capable of handling the largest civil and military aircraft without restriction, and it has been the regular host of United States military flights routing between North America and Europe and the Middle East. Voyager operations under Project MACE add to that pattern of military activity.
I wonder if people on e scooters could make it into Prestwick? I will wager the security would be better than Brize
Even during a Scotland match?
Ummm, I remember having a look at it when I was there walking the hound around the site, well, the greener side and it looked solid.
I wonder how much it’d cost to retrofit a boom on to the Voyagers so that they can refuel the E-7s, P-8s and Rivet Joints
Why go to the bother when we have the 100th ARW at Mildenhall that can do it? It’s not like our allies won’t help us when we need it. I’m pretty sure they are refuelling rivet joint anyway. Heck it could even be spun as an interoperability exercise.
We might as well wait until the Air Tanker PFI deal ends before going all out for spending any more on tankers.
I’m not sure if you are being serious or not. I mean are we talking about the same 100th ARW that is frequently threatened with withdrawal by the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Aside from that it would be sensible to actually have the capability so we would be able to return the favour as well as refuelling all of our own aircraft, of which the C-17 should also be added to the above list, and any, admittedly now unlikely, purchase of F-35As.
The problem is the Air Tanker PFI which has penalty clauses in the event of us wanting to make that alteration to the type of refuelling we are doing and the type of aircraft we use. Another classic example of government spinning a cut as a win only with it to became a millstone about our necks.
The Air Tanker PFI contract is limited to fast jet refuelling, and even then there is a clause that allows other Aerial refuelling for operational purposes. In theory we could take a few KC-135 from the USA, or even order some more A330 with a boom and hose and drogue fitted and use them to refuel aircraft with only boom capability.
As it stands the whole cost of the Voyager PFI deal has exceeded what it would have cost to buy the aircraft outright, man them and maintain them. The government even withdrew the Voyager from the Falklands so as not to initiate the extra surge aircraft capability in the contract.
As for a buy of F-35A, IMO that would be a disaster given the engine supply issues, delays to block IV software capabilities and that TR3 aircraft have a software glitch that makes them unable to be used in combat. That goes without mentioning requiring extra training of ground crew and aircrew, a bigger spares inventory and having to invest in storage facilities and security for storage of the B-61 it was intended to use.
As for the 100 ARW going anywhere, it won’t. It’s the only thing that maintains the transatlantic air bridge for US aircraft that go on to other parts of the world. I’m not sure if you remember, but it was also a threat made by Obama if we left the EU. It never happened then and it won’t happen in the future.
It wouldn’t be just the cost of retrofitting booms. But the whole training package that would go with it. The RAF have never used boom refueling.
Hot take, this shouldn’t be a temporary thing. As we’ve seen with events in Russia, having all your planes in the open is stupid, having them outside is now a death sentence and if we’re really going to bother about security, we should have more dispersed operations and fields. All of them should be able to support the range of aircraft, but none of them should be a hinge point for everything to work from.
Should we really be propping up the Scottish Government by paying landing fees at Prestwick given there are plenty of other places like Lossie that could support them? Prestwick is essentially a military airfield anyway, as most flights from there are military, and the airport wouldn’t survive without them.
Military flights are the only reason Prestwick stays open, it is a strategic asset for the UK and NATO due to its location and ability to stay open when other airports have had to close due to weather
As you note, Civilian flights in and out of Prestwick are minimal.
This work is hardly “propping up the Scottish Government”
So the answer is requisition it as a military airfield. That way landing fees would not have to be paid. If it is indeed such a strategic asset as you say, and I don’t disagree given the rate the MOD have been closing bases and putting all our eggs into very few baskets, then it should be a military base with a civil terminal, just like at RAF Valley.
As for propping up the Scottish government, they own it, so indeed it does.
Full 7 aicraft fleet? thought we had 14 Voyagers with 10 full and rest leaseable if not in use