People and Business: Ayling's Polish connection

BOB AYLING, the chief executive at British Airways, was at Wembley for England's 3-1 victory over Poland on Saturday.

Strangely Mr Ayling had to spend the match surrounded by a large Polish contingent. Does Mr Ayling have some Polish connection we haven't heard about - or was he the victim of a ticket mix-up?

The former, it would appear. Mr Ayling was a guest of Lot, the Polish airline, which had bought 50 tickets for the game. In fact he spent the game sat next to Lot's president, Jan Litwinksi. Lot and BA have a code- sharing arrangement, whereby both airlines can plug into each other's sales networks.

There was only one downside to Saturday's hospitality - the Polish fans were kept behind in the stadium to give the England fans time to disperse. I'm sure Mr Ayling made good use of this networking opportunity.