Heathrow Airport has been left in chaos after an IT allocation failure in British Airways‘ systems last night left passengers stranded on planes and facing hours of delays collecting their luggage.
The UK’s busiest airport revealed passengers travelling from Terminal 5 ‘may be impacted’ by the failure in BA’s Allocation systems, adding that no other airline has been affected.
Video from the Terminal last night showed massive queues of stricken travellers forming across the airport, as passengers struggle to correctly find their luggage.
Footage from inside the transport hub showed enormous queues forming outside BA’s baggage claim area in the terminal, as well as the customer assistance desk in the arrivals’ area.
And as the problems dragged on into this morning customers unleashed their fury as they shared horror stories about trying to calm children having panic attacks and waiting for hours, with one branding the UK a ‘third world country’.
Earlier tonight, British Airways sent a text to affected passengers that read: ‘We’re sorry to inform you that, due to a technical issue with our baggage allocation system at Heathrow, we can’t guarantee that your bags will have travelled with you on your flight today.’
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The UK’s most popular airport said tonight on X that passengers travelling from Terminal 5 ‘may be impacted’ by the failure in BA’s Allocation systems
Video from the Terminal taken tonight shows massive queues forming across the airport, as passengers struggle to correctly find their luggage
The airline continued, saying that it had sent out emails with further information to passengers.
Heathrow added that it is supporting the airline with their technical issue. They are advising passengers to check with BA before travelling to the airport.
They said that passengers in their flagship Terminal 5 may be impacted by the faults.
One passenger told MailOnline that she had been waiting for two hours at Heathrow as she returned from her wedding and honeymoon – but other passengers had been around for much longer.
She said that their delays are ongoing, with as many as 30 flights of people packing the baggage halls.
The beleaguered bride said: ‘I am returning from my wedding/honeymoon with my Husband. A less than fabulous end to what is meant to be a trip of a lifetime.
‘BA cancelled our flights home yesterday with 1.5 hours notice. They tried to put us on a six hour flight via Madrid but we refused this.
‘We re-booked onto a flight this evening which was delayed two hours. Now two hours waiting in baggage claim without clear timeline or communication on when things will be resolved. Staff here are trying their best and it’s clearly not their fault.
One passenger, Izzy Dixon, told MailOnline that she had been waiting for two hours at Heathrow as she returned from her wedding and honeymoon – but other passengers had been around for a lot longer. Pictured: The scene in Heathrow
Brits returning from dream holidays have been left stranded in Heathrow as they wait for their bags to be delivered
Sharing a photo of an empty desk, she added that there has been: ‘No customer service beyond two poor ladies dealing with lots of angry customers!’
‘Long time flyer with BA and use them as a more ‘premium’ carrier to avoid the classic air carrier tropes but clearly huge issues systematically with their customer support, staffing levels and IT systems.’
Sharing a photo of an empty desk, she added that there has been: ‘No customer service beyond two poor ladies dealing with lots of angry customers’.
Despite Heathrow’s claims that no other airline has been affected by BA’s IT failure, analysis of FlightRadar data showed that almost all the flights that departed from Heathrow this evening were delayed significantly, with many being cancelled outright.
Just 11 out of the 174 flights that were due to leave the airport since 6pm tonight left on time, data showed.
And as they were forced to wait, passengers were left furious with the delay.
One took to Twitter to say: ‘Shambles at Heathrow Airport, no bags arriving. No info just told to go home. but need the bag for a wedding tomorrow and you’re telling me 48 hours for by bag!!! NO INFO’
Another social media user called the situation ‘disgraceful.’
Phil Beck added that he had been waiting for his flight for more than four hours.
He said: ‘8pm flight from Aberdeen to LHR tonight. It’s now past midnight. I’m waiting for bags at Heathrow that may never come. Third world airline in a third world country.’
And Rob, who is stuck coming back from Spain, said: ‘My family have been stuck on a plane that landed from Madrid 90mins ago. Absolute disgrace.
‘My daughter is having a panic attack and the pilot is not being given any updates.’
Another passenger begged BA: ‘Can you please get my and hundreds of other passengers’ bags delivered to us in Nice from London Heathrow? Why did absolutely no bags make it onto our flight?’
A Heathrow spokesperson said: ‘We are supporting British Airways with a technical issue with their Allocation System.
‘We advise passengers to check with BA before travelling to the airport. BA passengers in Terminals 5 may be impacted, and are advised to contact BA for assistance.
‘No other airline is impacted.’
A BA spokesperson has said: ‘We’ve apologised to those customers who were unable to travel with their luggage due to a temporary technical fault that was outside of our control.
‘This issue has been resolved and we’ve brought in additional colleagues to support our teams in getting bags back to our customers as quickly as possible.’
The severe delays come just a day after a ground vehicle caught on fire by a BA place parked at Heathrow’s Terminal 5.
