Airport Security

Farnborough Airport is a small airport a few miles southwest of London. It is being developed as an exclusive business airport. If you have the money you are welcome, if not, forget it. As a business airport Farnborough is a key component of globalisation as it enables transnational corporations to control their global empires. Without facilities like Farnborough there would be no globalisation.

 http://www.farnborough-airport.org.uk
 http://www.heureka.clara.net/gaia/

Farnborough started out in life as a MoD research airfield, the Royal Aircraft Establishment, and that was when it was in its heyday. Nominally it still is an MoD airport, under semi-civilian control. If we ignore the Wright brothers, which local people conveniently do, Farnborough is where powered flight began with the exploits of Col Sam Cody, a relic from the American Wild West. Worldwide Farnborough is known for its two-yearly Farnborough International Airshow, the world's biggest arms fair.

 http://www.heureka.clara.net/surrey-hants/airshow.htm
 http://www.heureka.clara.net/surrey-hants/cody.htm
 http://www.caat.org.uk/

Locally the business airport is not wanted. Residential Farnborough lies at the end of the runway on top of a hill. Apart from noise and pollution there is the ever present fear of a crash.

 http://www.farnborough-airport.org.uk
 http://www.heureka.clara.net/surrey-hants/nototag.htm

For business people and those with money Farnborough is just what is wanted. For business people, and those who wish to keep their business as their business, Farnborough has a big selling point, privacy. Fly in through Farnborough and you have minimum hassle, minimum customs, minimum immigration, minimum passport control.

A couple of years ago Diana Ross flew in through Heathrow and had a great deal of hassle. Now she flies in through Farnborough, minimum hassle, maximum privacy. Ideal if you wish to slip in and out the country unnoticed, ideal if you are a terrorist with wealthy connections.

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_454000/454559.stm
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/newsid_454000/45635.stm
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_454000/454462.stm
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_455000/455137.stm

Fly into Farnborough and you can have your car meet you at the bottom of the aircraft steps.

George Bush grounded all business flights in the US (too risky and in any case there are enough empty seats on regular passenger flights), but at Farnborough it has been business as normal, or at least it would be if they had any business left. For some reason people don't want to fly anymore.

Surprisingly post 11 September Farnborough has not been grounded. Why? A recent BBC Newsnight programme, followed up in The Guardian, may have the answer, the Saudi connection.

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/events/newsnight/newsid_1645000/1645527.stm
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4293682,00.html

FBI were warned off by Bush to back off the Saudi connection - too much money at stake, too much oil, too much family involvement.

TAG Aviation are the operators of Farnborough Airport. Hidden behind offshore accounts, Switzerland and Luxembourg, little is known of TAG. What little is known is the Saudi connection - Akram Ojjeh and Mansour Ojjeh (two Saudis who are believed to travel on Swiss passports).
According to Gerald James, ex boss of arms company Astra and heavily involved in the Arms to Iraq and Iraqi Super Gun affair, the background of the two Saudis is Middle East financing and arms deals. Their biggest contact was the Al Yamama contract to Saudi Arabia.

Al Yamama was the world's biggest ever arms contract and propelled BAE Systems, or British Aerospace as it then was, from a bit player into the big time.

Major backers of TAG and their Farnborough project include BAE Systems, MoD and SBAC.

Nearly all the work to enable TAG to meet CAA criteria for a civilian airport has been done under MoD auspices to claim 'crown immunity'. MoD own the airport land.

SBAC, organizers of the Farnborough International Airshshow, have contributed £2.3 million towards the airport infrastructure cost. They are believed to have in the pipeline plans for expansion of their temporary exhibition site and turning it into a permanent exhibition site. Their site would be one of the largest in Europe with its own motorway link, airport, and nearby mainline railway station.

 http://www.sbac.co.uk/fbullet.asp?RecordID=178
 http://www.farnborough-airport.org.uk/public/media/coverage/0021.html

BAE Systems have their corporate headquarters next to the airport and use the airport to ship their staff around. John Marsh, leader of the local council, works for BAE Systems. Rushmoor, the local council, have in the eyes of the local community fallen over backwards to promote business expansion at Farnborough. John Marsh has in the past had his knuckles wrapped by the Local Authority Ombudsman for his airfield links. Recently John Marsh, together with the borough chief executive Andrew Lloyd, went on a freebie, all expenses trip to the Paris Airshow courtesy of SBAC.

 http://www.farnborough-airport.org.uk/public/media/coverage/0021.html

FARA, a local residents group, were barred from a local green day where they wished to present information on the environmental cost to the local community. The previous year sponsorship of the green day was by BAE Systems.

 http://www.farnborough-airport.org.uk/public/media/coverage/0022.html

One of the aircraft licensed to use Farnborough is the Boeing Business Jet - Boeing 737 with a Boeing 747 fuel payload. Charter a BBJ from Farnborough. It would be about 10 minutes to down it on Downing Street. Head north and a similar distance to down it on the military nuclear facilities at Aldermaston.



Gerald James, In the Public Interest, Warner Books, 1996
Rebecca Moore, Fury over air show freebie, Farnborough News, Fri 13July 2001

Airfield lobby group is barred from green event, freebie, Farnborough News, Fri 13July

SBAC, Farnborough - Flying into the Future Q&A

BBC Newsnight, Has someone been sitting on the FBI?, 6 November 2001

Greg Palast and David Pallister, FBI claims Bin Laden inquiry was frustrated, The Guardian, 7 November 2001



Keith Parkins is a campaigner against the expansion of Farnborough Airport. He has recently filed papers in the High Court in London for a judicial review of the manner in which Rushmoor has handled a planning application from TAG Aviation for specific runway configurations.


Published simultaneously in London and New York (Sat 10 November 2001).

 http://nyc.indymedia.org
 http://uk.indymedia.org