So much public anger is levelled at BAA because the operators of Heathrow keep their customers, already weighed down by luggage and, in many cases, anxiety about air travel, waiting in one long line after another. As passengers stand in queues, they may find themselves asking a few questions about the BAA business model:

1 Why are the retail areas in airports so clean, airy and well-staffed, while the security gates seem so cramped, shabby and under-resourced? (The BAA statistics may show that 91 per cent of people queue for less than 10 minutes, but the wait time is so unpredictable: on one trip to Heathrow you may breeze through, the next time you can wait 40 interminable minutes.) The suspicion, of course, is that for BAA, retail is a source of revenue; security is a cost.

2 Is BAA more or less likely to be sensitive to the complaints of the public and the concerns of business now that it is in foreign ownership?

3 Why should BAA maintain a monopoly over all the big commercial airports in the UK? The competition authorities are looking at whether there is an argument for breaking up the monopoly, but the review is even slower than the queues at Gatwick South Terminal.

The world has just begun a serious conversation about how to marry the many benefits of popular air travel with the dangers posed by aircraft emissions to global warming. The danger is that BAA’s conduct and corporate image means that it is discounted from the debate. But air travel is indispensable, particularly to an island nation that hosts London, the world’s most international financial capital. The efficient operation of Heathrow is not a matter of personal convenience, but critical to the continued growth of the UK.

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