British Airways CANCELS ALL short-haul flights out of Heathrow leaving passengers stranded
British Airways CANCELS ALL short-haul flights out of Heathrow leaving passengers stranded as long-haul services from Gatwick and London City Airport are delayed after airline suffers a technical issue – but says it’s NOT a Russian cyber attack
British Airways has been hit by ‘technical issues’ that have paralysed IT systemPassengers said Friday night staff suggested it had been ‘Russian cyber attack’But source insisted it was nothing of the sort and a software issue in system On Saturday, the airline cancelled all short haul flights from Heathrow until 12pmPassengers were advised to check status of flights before travelling to airport*Are you caught up in the chaos? Email stephen.wynn-davies@mailonline.co.uk*
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British Airways has cancelled all short-haul flights from Heathrow until midday leaving passengers stranded while further disruption is expected throughout Saturday due to ongoing technical issues.
The airline said the problem, which may also cause delays for its customers using Gatwick and London City Airport, is related to a hardware issue and is not because of a cyber attack.
The major outage has caused cancellations and delays of flights, pile-ups of luggage and passengers stuck on planes after landing at Heathrow.
It said long-haul flights are still operating, but customers may experience some delays.
Other passengers have reported delays and cancellations to flights arriving into Heathrow.
BA’s website and app were inaccessible for hours on Friday evening, preventing customers from checking in online or booking flights.
On Saturday morning, the airline advised customers to check the website for the latest flight information before coming to the airport.
In a statement, BA said: ‘We are extremely sorry that due to the continuing technical issues we are facing we have regrettably had to cancel all short-haul flights from Heathrow today until midday.
‘Customers due to travel later today should check their flight status on ba.com before coming to the airport as we anticipate further disruption during the day.
‘Our long-haul services at Heathrow and all flights at Gatwick and London City Airport are due to operate as planned, but customers may experience some delays.
‘Our website ba.com is working and customers can check-in online and at the airport.’
At Heathrow on Friday evening, passengers claimed staff had suggested ‘it was probably down to Putin and cyber attacks’.
But BA said it was just a ‘technical issue’.
A source familiar with the situation told MailOnline: ‘It’s absolutely not the case a cyber attack has been carried out.
‘This is a technical issue and all flights are still operating and customers are being checked in.’
British Airways said it had not been attacked and insisted that it was just a ‘technical issue’
On Saturday morning, Heathrow Airport tweeted to say BA’s ‘technical issues’ were continuing
Passengers due to fly with BA on Saturday morning experienced cancellations, while electronic boards at Heathrow showed major disruption
A BA passenger who was due to fly to Lanzarote from Heathrow at 7.50am today said they only received an email from the airline informing them of the cancellation at 6.15am.
BA said it is offering customers on cancelled services options including a full refund and all passengers booked to travel on short-haul services from Heathrow on Saturday can rebook to a later date for free.
The airline said it will be contacting customers proactively, adding: ‘Our teams have been working hard through the night and will continue to do so to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
‘We advise our customers due to travel today to check ba.com for the latest flight information before coming to the airport.
‘We know we have let our customers down and we will do everything we can to make this up to them – but for now our focus is on getting as many customers and flights away as we can.’
Photographs of departure boards in Heathrow Terminal 5 showed few flights boarding, while people complained on social media about a lack of information.
Tom O’Regan said he was due to fly from Heathrow to Naples but his flight was cancelled with ‘barely three hours notice’. He said nobody was answering the phone, leaving him and his two young children ‘little choice but to go to the airport’.
Another customer said she was told her flight from Heathrow – which she was taking to see her nephew on his birthday – was cancelled while she made her way to the airport this morning.
Paolo Bischi advised other customers flying from Heathrow to ‘not waste time today, stay home’ after not being allowed inside the airport.
Maria Rua Aguete said her BA flight to Barcelona from Heathrow had been cancelled on Saturday morning.
On Saturday morning, a spokesman for Heathrow Airport added: ‘There is ongoing disruption this morning due to British Airways technical issues which we are supporting them to resolve.
‘We request that passengers check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling to the airport. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.’
It is BA’s second outage in 10 days.
Passengers onboard BA flights claimed staff had blamed problems on ‘probable cyber attack’
Emma Jewell said she is currently ‘stranded’ in Iceland with no idea of when she will be able to get home after her flight to Heathrow was cancelled.
She told MailOnline that her suitcase was left in London when she flew out to Iceland leaving her ‘with no clothes or appropriate footwear’.
She added: ‘British airways do not answer the phone and there is no option to book another flight through the manage my booking area on their website.
‘British airways have been in the news before with system issues. Is it not time they upgrade to ensure this does not happen again?’
Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: ‘Ongoing technical issues don’t fill consumers with much confidence.
‘Many people have saved up during lockdown to get away at the first opportunity and some are now finding that computers, not Covid, are preventing their getaway.
‘BA needs to be transparent on what’s causing these issues and how soon they will be fixed.’
Ed Hall, 54, a television executive from Woodstock, Oxfordshire, was stuck on a plane for over an hour after landing at Heathrow Terminal 5 because the crew could not access any IT systems to get a stand where passengers could disembark.
He said there were issues even before his BA 399 flight took off from Brussels.
Mr Hall told PA: ‘We couldn’t take off as the pilot’s system that calculates weight, loads and distribution went offline and we had to go back to the gate from the runway to get a (manual) copy sent from London.
‘BA is running on paper tonight’.
Once he finally disembarked, baggage was piling up from passengers stuck on other flights, he said.
Mr Hall added that a friend waiting for a long-haul flight in Terminal 5 was having to board manually.
Departure screens were completely blank at Heathrow after the computer system failure
He said later on Twitter: ‘Pilot on BA 399: “There might be more reasons for the IT problems we’ve had in the last few days, Eastern Europe perhaps” Plane on taxiway at LHR as ‘frequencies’ not working at Terminal 5 and no idea when we will get a stand. Are we under cyber attack?’
Another passenger added: ‘I’m at Terminal 5 your staff are telling me no flights going because the entire computer system is down here. Not just BA. They saying it’s probably down to Putin and cyber attacks.’
Photographs of departure boards in Terminal 5 showed few flights boarding.
Sophia Prout, 33, from London, waited in Terminal 5 for her BA flight to Lisbon, scheduled for 7.05pm, until it was cancelled just after 9pm.
She said it was ‘frustrating’ that technical issues were ongoing as she had been waiting for a total of four hours after checking in at around 5pm when only a few of the desks were working.
Ms Prout said she had arrived early because she could not check in online.
She said: ‘We’re lucky that we can turn around and go home if the flight gets cancelled, but would be nice to get an idea of when/if we will take off’.
**Are you caught up in the flight chaos or missing your luggage? Email stephen.wynn-davies@mailonline.co.uk**
