DOZENS of flights have been cancelled at Heathrow airport's beleaguered fifth terminal today as British Airways struggles to solve problems which reduced its opening to shambles.
BA, the £4.3 billion building's sole user, has grounded 54 flights – or more than one in seven – which had been due to operate.
It follows the airline cancelling 78 flights – one fifth – at the terminal yesterday and 69 on Thursday – its opening
day.
BA yesterday accepted responsibility for the chaos, which it said been caused by a series of problems, including staff being unable to get their posts, which caused the baggage system seize up.
A key problem is thought to centre on the speed with which BA staff were able to transfer passengers' bags between the terminal's hi-tech baggage system and aircraft. There was a shortage of luggage transfer vehicles, known as tugs and dollies.
BA said it had ironed out many of the problems yesterday, but still cancelled flights to take pressure off the system.
These mainly affected high-frequency routes, such as those to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, as BA said passengers could be switched to later flights, or via Gatwick or London City airports.
Some 12 such flights were cancelled yesterday, which raised the ire of Alex Salmond, the First Minister, who said Scottish flights always seemed to suffer first.
He said: "If there is a sneeze in the system, Scotland freezes and gets shifted off the end.
"Scottish passengers are getting fed up when there is disruption at Heathrow."
Echoing his comments, Andy Willox of the Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland said: "Today's cancellations will surprise few, but anger many of the business travellers whose tight schedules have been blown wide open."
Liz Cameron, the chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said: "It seems once again that services to and from Scotland are suffering disproportionately."
The Conservatives called for an inquiry into the "chaos and confusion".
Virgin Atlantic, one of BA's main long-haul rivals, said 200 BA passengers had switched to its flights, mainly to Dubai and Hong Kong.
Willie Walsh, BA's chief executive, said 450 extra staff had been drafted in to help out yesterday. A BA spokesman said: "Operations in Terminal Five have been improving steadily during Friday. The airline will continue to closely monitor the situation as it works towards restoring a full operation as soon as possible."
The airline said passengers had been able to check-in luggage again yesterday after this was suspended on Thursday.
It said the move had been to prevent departing flights from being delayed, which would have a knock-on effect on later services.
Passenger watchdogs said delayed travellers should be entitled to meals and hotel being paid for by BA, but would not receive anything for baggage delays.
The full article contains 471 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
