British Airways holidaymakers face chaos at Heathrow after IT glitch

Holidaymakers and other British Airways (BA) travellers heading through Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 faced hours of frustrating delays before it is claimed they were told to "go home" by the airline.

The chaotic scenes at the largest airport in Europe on Tuesday night were allegedly caused by a "technical issue", with passengers from Aberdeen caught up in the disruption.

The failure of BA's allocation system led to flights landing without their baggage and long delays for passengers as they tried to locate their missing belongings.

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Late on Tuesday night and into the early hours of the next day, disgruntled passengers queued through the terminal with many complaining of a lack of communication, writes the Mirror.

Many took to social media to vent their frustration, one disgruntled flyer said: "Communication was so poor this evening, not great BA. I don't have much hope about getting my luggage any time soon."

After last night's technical issues, BA has said today's flights from Terminal 5 are scheduled to go ahead as normal.

Heathrow Airport said in a statement to frustrated passengers: "We are supporting British Airways with a technical issue with their allocation system.

"We advise passengers to check with British Airways before travelling to the airport. British Airways passengers in Terminal 5 may be impacted, and are advised to contact British Airways for assistance. No other airlines are impacted."

Another angry passenger said the chaotic scenes made him feel like he was flying from a third world country. They 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 a third world country."

Passengers reported that there were around 30 flights crammed into the halls, all trying to figure out where their baggage was or where they were going. Meanwhile, many criticised the lack of staff to deal with the long lines of distraught flyers.

Another peeved passenger wrote: "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."

According to the Mail, just 11 of the 174 flights that were scheduled to leave the airport ultimately left on time, during a day of chaos and cancellations for summer holidaymakers.

One furious traveller said that "all hell broke loose", their luggage was lost, and they were then told to come back at 5am.

They said: "Heathrow Airport basically broke down this afternoon, my flight home and four others got cancelled at the same time. All hell broke loose, I got rebooked onto a flight tomorrow morning (RIP my lie in)."

"Offered to put me in a hotel in Gatwick, 26 miles away and I had to get a coach there and back for 5am tomorrow. My suitcase has been lost, apparently [there is] no record of me bringing it home."

British airways haven't put out a statement but are replying to tweets to customers saying "I'm sorry you were affected by the disruption at LHR. If you want to make a complaint, you can do so here: https://britishairways.com/en-gb/information/help-and-contacts/complaints-and-claims."

A BA spokesperson told the Mirror: "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."

A Heathrow spokesperson said: "Earlier British Airways experienced a technical issue with their Allocation System, this has now been resolved. Our teams are on site supporting BA with their recovery.

"We advise passengers to check with BA before travelling to the airport as BA passengers in Terminal 5 may still be impacted. No other airline is impacted."

Were you caught up in the disruption? Let us know by emailing aberdeenlivenews@reachplc.com.