Akerosid's posting illustrates one of the worst aspects of the Heathrow argument - that we're apparently engaged in some hairy chest competition with other European airports for business. Should we really sit crowing on top of the dump which is Heathrow, and raising the finger to the continent? Will business really go to Germany and Holland if LHR is not expanded? Business increasingly avoids Heathrow because it's a dreadful airport. How many businessmen want to turn up three hours before a flight and pay £2 for a styrofoam container of tea while they kick their heels? The majority of the passengers who pass through Heathrow aren't going to London or coming from it. Many of them spend longer getting to the airport than they do flying to their destinations. Why funnel them all into Heathrow, and then demand expansion on the grounds that it's so popular? Surely there must come a time when the interests of Big Airlines and Bloody Awful Airports come second.