It cannot have escaped the notice of many business travellers that queuing has become more widespread since the August 10 disruption as airports and airlines have scrambled to apply a constantly changing set of security requirements.

Being asked to take your laptop out of its case and to remove your shoes is now no longer greeted with a raise of the eyebrow but instead with a shrug of resignation. Having passed through Heathrow, Washington Dulles and Sydney in recent days, I can honestly say I have never queued up so much in my life. Dulles, by the way, was by far the worst of the three.

Airports have tried their hardest to get the queues moving as quickly as possible but some people are doing their damnedest to thwart them. There are those people who only realise once they are standing at the scanner that the new rules apply to them too and then spend five minutes removing their shoes and coat while the queue grows behind them.

Then there are the others who think that complaining loudly will mean that they will eventually be allowed to take a bottle of water through security.

But some travellers are getting wise. With the longer queues, airports are having to micro-manage them in order to keep people moving. Increasingly, security staff are prioritising those whose flights depart soonest and, as a result, savvy travellers are showing up to the airport later in the knowledge that they will be able to queue-jump legitimately when they do.

There have always been the late arrivers who ask if they can push in front of you in the queue but it seems to me that the number of people who now turn up late so they can get priority treatment has grown to epidemic proportions.

This evidently raises hackles among anyone who did show up the regulation three hours in advance and you can just see them plotting their own late arrival for the next time they fly.

Well, at least that's what I did. Next time someone passes you in the queue with a big smile on their face, it could be me.