When the job was first advertised, one industry insider said that airline heads had “certainly made their feelings known” to the Department for Transport.

Nigel Wicking, chief executive of the Heathrow Airline Operating Committee, a body that represents the carriers serving the airport, said: “We note and support the Civil Service values of ‘impartiality, objectivity, integrity and honesty’ and would question how the panel can be impartial when it contains the chief executive of Heathrow Airport, the regulated monopoly that the new director general will oversee.”

Another senior industry source said eight days ago: “Aviation is supposed to be a competitive industry so it beggars belief that the chief executive of the UK’s biggest airport, which has to be tightly regulated to stop it abusing its monopoly position, is directly involved in the appointment of a senior government official with responsibility for the sector.

“Whether any bias is real or just perceived, it will cast shade on any future Government decisions involving Heathrow.”