A reader of The Register going by the name Ethel Grapefruit (Mrs) spotted the familiar Windows activation watermark splashed across one of the flight information boards in the check-in area of London Heathrow's Terminal 5, hovering above the signs directing passengers to the bag drop.

The watermark appears when Windows decides the machine behind it has not been properly activated — typical triggers include a hardware swap or an update that upset the licensing state. Functionally it is mostly harmless: the system keeps running and receiving security updates, it just nags, blocks personalization, and gets little in the way of Microsoft support. That hardly matters for a board that only shows where to weigh your luggage.

Still, The Register notes the optics are unfortunate. Heathrow and British Airways are not exactly synonyms for competent IT, given a 2024 luggage chaos incident at T5 blamed on a third-party fault and a fire-related closure of the airport the year after. A public display advertising that some contractor skipped a licensing step does little to calm already nervous travelers — and surely the excess-baggage fees could have covered a license key.