British Airways (BA) says it is hoping to run 80% of services from Terminal 5 today (28 March) after a traumatic opening saw the ”4.3bn ($8.6bn) building plunge into chaos.
A BA spokesman confirmed to ABTN this morning that staff had been working through the night to try and alleviate the problems which appear to hinge on baggage handlers not being able to arrive for work.
”There were a number of issues with the bags as some of our loaders were unable to log on to the system early on in the day,” he said. ”The baggage handlers work in teams and there was a shortfall in the number of them able to be in position.
”In the car park, there was a glitch in the system where people could not get to it. On any other day, this would not be a deal-breaker, the cumulative effect just snowballed. Our earnest intention is to operate 80% [of flights] today and get back to a robust schedule.”
BA is hoping that most or all of its long-haul services will operate today, with passengers on higher-frequency routes put on later flights. Some customers were accommodated in London hotels last night.
However, passengers reacted apoplectically to the delays with one telling a UK news network: ”There are conveyor belts that are not working, nothing works at all.
”There are more people leaving this airport than arriving ” it”s the most shambolic thing I have ever seen ” it”s complete chaos.”
A spokeswoman for BAA confined herself to noting that ”we are not blaming anyone,” and added that a further statement would be made today.