Allied Irish Banks is the leader of a three-strong syndicate of banks providing the £36 million sterling finance for the first hotel to be built at London's Heathrow airport in 10 years.

AIB is the arranger, leader and biggest lender in the syndicate for the Grove International hotel at Heathrow. The other members of the syndicate are Bank of Ireland and Bank of Scotland.

The hotel is set to open in summer 1999 and will be unique in that it has been pre-let in its entirety to British Airways for its flight crew.