Anyone hanging around UK airports a week ago would have seen weary businessmen and women in suits standing in queues for hours and then boarding aircraft empty handed. Thanks to the terror alert they had had all their toys taken away and were bravely facing flights without the comfort offered by BlackBerries, mobiles or laptops.

Business travel never made less sense than it did for those few days. And yet did these executives admit defeat? No, mostly they doggedly struggled across the world to give their presentation and attend their meetings regardless.