BRITISH Airways passengers have criticised the “absolute chaos” at London’s Heathrow Airport after all short-haul flights on Saturday morning were cancelled due to a major IT outage.
The issue has also caused flight delays, affecting trips to Scotland and other UK destinations, with passengers stuck on planes after landing at the airport and baggage piling up.
The airline said the problem, which may also cause delays for its customers using Gatwick and London City Airport, is related to a hardware issue and is not because of a cyber attack.
Hundreds of people have been queuing outside Heathrow’s Terminal 5 on Saturday with staff only letting passengers into the building an hour before their flight, due to the backlog inside.
Susan Watson, who is in her mid-40s and works in London, said she was booked on the 12.15pm flight to travel to Aberdeen for work and to see family.
“I have got my godson’s 21st birthday party this evening so I was hoping to be there for that,” she said.
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“I’m disappointed for both reasons, for work and for seeing my family and friends, so it is not ideal.”
Dr Penny Slaney, 62, a consultant radiologist from Worcestershire, said the situation has been “absolute chaos” and the lack of communication from BA has been “appalling”.
Dr Slaney said she and her daughter were due to be on the 9.15am flight to Salzburg for a holiday before their travel agent managed to move them to the 12.30 flight – but both were cancelled.
“The lack of communication is the primary issue. We heard about the IT issue from a fellow passenger,” Dr Slaney said.
She said their family have not been on holiday for three years and are missing a day of their week-long break in Austria.
“There was no information from BA at all – nothing. The news has told us more about what is going on,” Dr Slaney said.
“It has been absolute chaos. I could organise this better,” she said, adding that the staff at the terminal doors checking passenger details looked freezing without any warm clothing.
“They said to us when we got to the door to “go home”. I think that is very poorly managed.”
BA said long-haul flights are still operating, but customers may experience some delays.
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In a statement, BA said: “We are extremely sorry that due to the continuing technical issues we are facing we have regrettably had to cancel all short-haul flights from Heathrow today until midday.
“Customers due to travel later today should check their flight status on ba.com before coming to the airport as we anticipate further disruption during the day.”
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