Prestwick Airport has marked the one-year anniversary of the first direct scheduled cargo route between Scotland and China, a service that has quickly grown into one of the airport’s most important links. China Southern Air Logistics launched flights between Guangzhou and Prestwick on June 2 last year, and the route has since expanded from three to four flights a week.

The airport now handles 15 scheduled services a week to and from mainland China, with additional Hong Kong capacity as well. Air China Cargo has increased its Prestwick-Chengdu service to daily flights after starting the route in November last year, while Ethiopian Airlines began three cargo flights a week between Hong Kong and Prestwick in April.

Ian Forgie said the first year had shown the value of direct, reliable cargo links between Scotland and China. He said the service has supported faster and more resilient routes for e-commerce and high-value Scottish exports, while helping create local jobs, invest in specialist handling and build a stronger hub for UK trade with one of the world’s largest logistics markets.

That progress matters because the airport is owned by the Scottish Government and was rescued in 2013 with a £1 purchase from former owner Infratil of New Zealand. The expansion over the past year suggests the gamble has paid off, turning Prestwick into a working freight gateway rather than a dormant state asset.

The strain, though, is that the airport’s growth has depended on a narrow set of long-haul cargo links that need to keep filling up if they are to last. Prestwick has more capacity now, not less, and the next test is whether those routes can keep carrying inbound e-commerce and outbound Scottish salmon, seafood and whisky at the pace the airport is now built for.

For now, the first year has answered the biggest question around the route. The direct China service is not symbolic anymore; it is established, expanding and already reshaping how goods move in and out of Scotland.