Would it help if BAA’s grip on London’s airports were loosened? Infuriated passengers must be tempted to respond: who cares, as long as the job is done with mallets and hobnail boots? The Competition Commission, which will issue provisional findings on the matter next week, is leaning towards methods that are less brutal but almost as drastic: BAA may in time be forced to divest some of its airports.

The situation has been left to fester for too long. London’s airports are a national embarrassment and a real cost of doing business in one of the world’s great cities. Business travellers and holidaymakers dread running the gauntlet of clogged runways, decaying baggage halls and understaffed security checks.