We report today that Heathrow users can expect another five years of disruption at the airport as the modernisation of Terminal Two and the Queen's Building gets under way. The opening of Terminal Five next March will relieve overcrowding at Terminals One and Four but pressures on the airport's capacity elsewhere will remain. BAA has a near monopoly in this region, with more than 90 per cent of air journeys into the South-East involving Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.

As the outcry this summer over queues, poor facilities and delays at Heathrow demonstrated, leading businesses, the City of London and the Government are prepared to criticise the quality of service BAA provides. Already there has been a shift away from Heathrow to destinations such as Schiphol and Charles de Gaulle, for those passengers who have a choice. At the same time, BAA operates in an industry which imposes big costs on the millions of people living under or close to its flightpaths, and is a fast-growing contributor to climate change.

Calls we report today from the Mayor's environment adviser Charles Secrett for restrictions on city breaks or flights to second homes have little chance of being implemented but political concerns over emissions, and the impact of flying on quality of life for Londoners, will not go away.

As the Competition Commission's inquiry into BAA continues, as well as consultation over the controversial third runway plan, BAA, as a business whose public profile is acutely important, must at the very least deliver a decent service for passengers while its construction work goes on.

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