I used to regularly go to Heathrow and Gatwick to photograph aircraft before they shut the viewing decks down. I had been hearing rumours even before 9/11 that BAA wanted to shut the observation deck at Heathrow so it provided a perfect excuse for them - that is if they hadn't waited until February 2003 to do it. The answer provided by BAA to Amos Keeto's enquiry is absolute rubbish in that "the Government advised that all public viewing areas be closed on security grounds". If that was so, then why haven't the viewing areas at Manchester and Birmingham been closed down?
The reason is far more likely that it is BAA Corporate Policy that all their viewing areas should be closed down and that aircaft enthusiasts should actively be discouraged from visiting their airports. Instead of hiding behind "Government advice", why can't they just be honest with people and tell them the truth which is that they weren't making enough money from aircraft enthusiasts etc and thet they wanted to use the space to built yet more fast food outlets and underwear shops? If someone at BAA had used a little common sense, they would have realised that having all the spotters in one place where they can easily be supervised with the minimum of fuss and expense would have presented far less of a security problem than having them dotted all around the airport perimeter - hardly rocket science, is it?
I visited the Visitor Centre when it first opened about 10 years ago and decided straight away that it was a complete waste of time due to it's location. Someone at BAA must have thought really long and hard about that one. They might as well have put it up in the Orkneys for all the use it was.
But the people I do feel sorry for are the people at Mach 3 - not only were they turfed off Terminal 2 and looking at their website at the time, they were under the impression that it was only a temporary measure. Now they've been turfed out of the Visitor Centre as well!
It's obvious that BAA haven't got the business acumen to realise that the visitors of today could well be the passengers of tomorrow. I for one will never fly from a BAA owned airport if I can possibly help it. I would much rather fly from somewhere like Manchester, Birmingham or even Amsterdam.
Last edited by My Dad's Little Boy; 21st April 2006 at 14:41.