It is something he will have to take constant soundings of and at the same time try and extract some productivity benefits from the Heathrow workforce.

Time is not infinite and the European Commission has banned further state aid.

The situation is still brittle, even though the Gate Gourmet dispute is nearly over and BA is back working. There remains the possibility things will erupt again.

But we are reaching the limits. These markets are at the very margin of aviation. (Most) airlines still fly in the eight to 12-hour sector. This is still where the biggest volume (in traffic) is.

It's going to be an unsettling summer.

It is interesting that people are trying to change the conventional methods,