BAA uses insiders to push deals - Heathrow Airport News

Airport news for Heathrow on 20/03/2008.

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When it comes to the expansion of Heathrow International Airport in London, there is usually an equal amount of voices in the press either for or against the concept, but with the newly opened Terminal 5 building, the protests against the idea don’t seem to have been heard.

The Times newspaper reports that to push its agendas through parliament, BAA has a vast and complex network of insiders and rail greasers to serve its ends. The proposal for the third runway at Heathrow is being sold to government by lobbyists and PR groups in favour of the expansion have direct ties to BAA and their interests, the Times has found.

The article points out that in Gordon Brown’s inner circle is a former head of BAA public affairs department, Jo Irvin, who also headed the pro-expansion lobby, along with Stephen Hardwick, another former public affairs man for BAA and part of the same lobby group as Irvin. With obvious links like these, opponents to the expansion are understandably irked at the likelihood of favour swinging in favour of the influential lobbyists so close to the Prime Minister.

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