British Airways hit by Heathrow’s T5 problems

The chaos continues at newly opened Heathrow’s Terminal 5 after its baggage system collapsed.

As a result, British Airways was forced to cancel 34 flights and thousands of passengers were left waiting for 3 hours for their luggage in the new £4.3 billion terminal.

Shortly after midday yesterday, BA had to suspend passenger check-in after 3 flights took off without any luggage. The problems were caused by a lack of baggage handlers, those who did arrive did not know how to work the computer system.

The airline recently said ‘Terminal 5 was the solution to Heathrow hell’ and had boasted that T5′s baggage handling system was one of the most advanced in the world.

A spokesperson for BA said we have had a few minor problems in our first day of operation in T5. It is not unexpected following one of the most complex and largest airport moves in history.

These teething problems have included car parking provision for staff, delays in staff security screening and staff familiarisation with the terminal, added the spokesperson.

We have also had some baggage performance issues. These also are being resolved. The average customer has given us a very positive reaction to T5 which we know will be a resounding success, said the spokesperson.

Terminal 5, which was 20 years in the making, had been praised as ‘the best ever’ after the first plane, a flight from Hong Kong landed 8 minutes early at 4.42am. The flight was greeted by BA’s chief executive Willie Walsh who said baggage handling had worked perfectly, taking just 14 minutes.

However, within an hour everything had gone wrong and passengers said they were experiencing ‘Heathrow hell’ as normal.

Today is Terminal 5’s second day which saw many passengers stranded overnight. Over 30 departures have been cancelled today and queues are building and frustrated passengers have missed flights – blaming lack of information.

BA, which has sole use of Terminal 5, said we sincerely apologise to those customers who have suffered disrupted journeys. Mr Walsh said I am very sorry that the problems have meant that some of our customers did not experience the true potential of this amazing new building.

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