its good to see someone tackling the problems of aircraft pollution, since the government ignores it alltogether.

thankyou

NATIONAL NEWS: Protesters seize BAA boardroom
Financial Times; Aug 10, 2001
By MARK ODELL

Four environmental protesters yesterday barricaded themselves into the
boardroom at the headquarters of BAA, the airport operator, in protest at
plans to build a new terminal at London Heathrow.

The members of London Rising Tide staged a four-hour sit-in and demanded
to speak to Mike Hodgkinson, the company's chief executive, to express
concerns about plans to build a fifth terminal, and further airport expansion.

They were evicted from the boardroom by security officers after refusing to
speak to any of the other senior managers.

BAA said the intrusion was unwarranted and it was trying to find out how
the protesters gained access. "We are a socially responsible company and
consult frequently with the community in line with the democratic process,"
it said. Mark Odell

###################
BAA boardroom invaded

The Independent - United Kingdom, Aug 10, 2001
BY NIGEL COPE

A GROUP of environmental protesters occupied the boardroom at BAA, the airport
operator, for
more than four hours yesterday to protest against the plans to build a fifth terminal
at Heathrow airport
in London.

Four members of the Rising Tide environmental lobby group barricaded
themselves into the
boardroom at BAA's central London office and demanded to see the chief
executive. They eventually
left peacefully at lunchtime.

Rising Tide supporters also issued leaflets and erected placards outside the head
office.

Sue Madden, one of the four demonstrators, said: "We felt the protest was
worthwhile and raised the
issue of the harm airport expansion can do."

BAA said it was investigating how the protesters gained entry to the building and
found their way
unchallenged to the seventh floor boardroom. A spokeswoman said: "We are
investigating how they
got in. They came in through the front door."

BAA said its chief executive, Michael Hodgkinson, had not been available
yesterday. The company
said it had offered the protesters a meeting with him over the coming weeks but
had the offer turned
down. BAA said the protest was "unnecessary", adding that its expansion plans
were meeting public
demand for flights and subject to the democratic planning process.

Rising Tide is a coalition of groups and individuals concerned about climate
change. It was in the thick
of protests during the global climate change summit in Bonn last month.
##############
18 August 2001 22:58 GMT+1
Independent (from the business section)

Time to wait in BAA departure lounge

BAA; Torex; Sherwood

Edited by Nigel Cope

14 August 2001

It has been a turbulent few weeks for BAA, the airports
operator.

Last week, its boardroom was invaded by the Rising Tide
environmental group complaining about airport expansion.
Earlier in the summer, BAA was faced with huge delays to
Balearic island flights out of Gatwick after industrial action in
the region. Amidst all this, the group has been suffering from a
serious bout of foot and mouth disease.

The farming epidemic has affected passenger numbers badly,
particulary out of Heathrow. The economic downturn has also
hit traffic figures with US traffic affected most. That the shares
have been on a rising trend against this backdrop might seem
surprising, though it owes more to an investors flight to safer,
defensive stocks than anything else.

Certainly, yesterday's passenger and cargo figures for July
were about as exciting as an in-flight menu. BAA's seven UK
airports showed traffic growth in July of just 0.7 per cent on
the previous month. Heathrow was the big casualty with a 3.5
per cent monthly fall in passenger numbers.

Its North Atlantic traffic fell by a more worrying 7.1 per cent.
There were a few bright spots, notably Stansted which
continues to benefit from the exponential growth of low-cost
airlines. But all in all, the figures disappointed the City and the
shares fell 6p to 641p.

What does the future hold? The short-term outlook is poor.
August's figures are not expected to show much improvement
and concerns over the global economy will persist.

There is promise on the horizon though. First, aviation is a
growth industry with passenger numbers forecast to grow by 5
per cent a year. And next month, the Civil Aviation Authority is
due to review the regulatory regime with the possibility of a
more benign era being ushered in.

Hovering above all this is the subject of Terminal 5 at
Heathrow. Plans for the controversial £2bn project are
currently with the government and a decision is due in the
Autumn.

With the shares down 6p at 641p yesterday, they trade on a
forward multiple of 18. With two such big issues yet to be
decided, it would pay to wait in the departure lounge for a
while on this one.