I doudt Highland was the lowest bid (But I don't know)
It will have been aload of political nonsense. Someone wanted that runway upgraded and the status quo at Oban changed and were quite happy to piss any amount of money up the wall to achieve that aim which I might add they have failed to do quite spectacularly.
And no doudt George called a bunch of incompetent bumholes, a bunch of politicans, they got the hump and the rest is history.