EADS may call the UK its "fourth home", but it seems no one has told the Royal Air Force, who failed to give its French chief executive the welcome he might have expected when he arrived for the show.

Louis Gallois was detained on the company's aircraft for an hour on Saturday after landing at RAF Northolt because the flight's paperwork was not in order.

Northolt is a popular business airport for London and is used by the Royal Family and government ministers. However, it is run by the RAF, which has the final say on access and operations.

Louis Gallois - EADS
 © Billypix

According to Gallois, EADS had submitted documents to the handling agents for the flight from Paris. But the RAF refused to accept them and demanded confirmation from Paris.

Until it arrived, Gallois and several colleagues were not allowed to disembark. Gallois was on his way to give the keynote presentation at an EADS media seminar in London. Did he spend the delay honing his notes before facing the assembled press? "We played cards," he told the audience.

Source: Flight Daily News