Bird & Signet, Glasgow Airport, Paisley

Semi-open airside bar, with all the character one might expect (i.e. none). Unadventurous choice of real ales from four handpumps (all priced at £3.15). Confusingly, the other 'spoons in the airport has a very similar name (Sandpiper).

Of GLA's 3 airside bars The Sanderling is the best bet. It's nothing special, being both a JDW and an airport bar, but it provides a quiet spot to grab a real ale while waiting for the airline industry to sort out its act. The bar manager was pleasant and pretty much on the ball, although other staff members were a bit less efficient. There's a lack of atmosphere, even by airport standards, but the seats were comfortabel and it was quiet. There were 3 ales on - I had Orkney Dark Island, a favourite of mine, but this one was much too cold and rather flatter in taste than it should have been. I will continue to use this bar when passing through.

This is the Glasgow Airport airside Wetherspoon’s bar. It’s named after the original Royal Navy Air Station on the site, which although a RN “stone ship” still had a HMS designation (i.e. HMS Sanderling) and a ship’s bell that is now displayed prominently at the entrance to the bar. The walls are adorned, most appropriately, with old black and white photographs commemorating the aviation heritage of the airport. The place was almost empty during my late morning visit, and stayed that way for the hour or more that I was in there waiting for my flight to be called. I wish the Flying Horse at Gatwick South, which I use regularly, was as comfortable and uncrowded as this one. They had four ales on, the pick of the bunch being the superb Strathavon Midnight Walk. Sparklers are in use here, and when I spotted this, from the frothy evidence in the glass the barman was trying to fill, I asked him to remove it, whereupon he took a fresh glass and started again. Top marks for that. It’s a ‘spoons’ so you pretty much know what to expect, but in my view it really is the best place to while away the time if you happen to find yourself in Glasgow Airport waiting for a flight.