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Chaos continues at Heathrow and Gatwick airports after British Airways IT failure

Disruption has continued at Heathrow and Gatwick Airports today a British Airways IT failure left thousands stranded and dozens of flights cancelled.

The problem, caused by a worldwide systems failure, sparked scenes of chaos as people tried to make their way overseas for the long weekend and half-term school holiday.

The problem, believed to be due to a power supply issue and not connected to a cyber attack, affected all of BA’s check-in and operational systems including the airline’s customer service phone lines and rebooking function.

Chaos continued at Heathrow and Gatwick airports after flights were disrupted due to a British Airways IT system failure
Grounded – dozens of flights were cancelled after the BA IT system failure (Pictures: Getty)

Disruption continued today as British Airways urged passengers to check the status of their flight before travelling to the airport.

A Heathrow spokeswoman said: “Following a worldwide British Airways’ IT system issue yesterday, delays and cancellations of British Airways flights are expected today.”

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“Prior to travelling to the airport, all British Airways passengers who are due to fly today should check the status of their flight.

“All passengers whose flights were cancelled yesterday should not travel to the airport today unless they have already rebooked onto another flight.”

Chaos continues at Heathrow airport after a British Airways IT failure left dozens of flights cancelled
Advice – passengers were warned to check the status of their flight before travelling to the airports

There were more than 30 BA cancellations at Heathrow by 9am on Sunday and delays of around 30 minutes to their flights from Gatwick.

BA initially cancelled all flights before 6pm on Saturday but later announced planes would be grounded for the rest of the day and warned passengers not to go to the airports.

Customers who saw their flights cancelled are being refunded or rebooked on to new services and other options are available for those who no longer want to fly.

Passengers lucky enough to be aboard one of the few flights taking off on Saturday later found their hold luggage had not made it onto the plane with them.

BA chief executive Alex Cruz apologised for the “huge inconvenience” suffered by customers, especially families heading on half term holidays.

Experts have warned it could take days for services to return to normal and clear the backlog of passengers.

Air industry consultant John Strickland said the disruption could “run into several days” and added: “There’s a massive knock-on effect.

“Customers and from the airline’s point of view – manpower, dealing with the backlog of aircraft out of position, parking spaces for the aircraft – it’s a challenge and a choreographic nightmare.”

BA had issues with its online check-in systems in September and July last year, causing severe delays for passengers.