But British Airways must be pretty popular in Glasgow today.

Because the UK flag carrier has announced a boost for the city's airport with a 20% rise in the number of shuttles it runs to its London hub.

The extra Heathrow flights will go a long way to replace those dropped by BA's archrival bmi earlier this year.

In fact, because BA will use a bigger plane to ferry passengers to and from London its total number of seats will rise as much as 25%.

This is a real boost for Glasgow, which, despite its efforts to develop its own direct international routes, desperately needs to be plugged in to the global hub at Heathrow.

But more needs to be done to back Glasgow Airport and all the jobs it supports.

For starters the SNP administration in Edinburgh needs to bring back Scotland's successful route development fund.

But the key to success for Glasgow would be for the Chancellor to cut airport passenger duty.

This is a tax that hits Scots more than our English neighbours, simply because we rely more on air routes to the continent.

Chancellor George Osborne has already slashed the tax for those using airports in Northern Ireland. He must now follow suit in Scotland ... or devolve this power and let the Scottish Government protect this economic crown jewel.