British Airways (BA) says that it will be forced to cancel 78 flights from Heathrow”s Terminal 5 today (28 March) as the catastrophic effects of yesterday”s opening problems continue to snowball.
A glance at the list of cancellations shows that the axe has fallen mainly on short-haul routes from London to Brussels, Copenhagen, Zurich, Oslo, Amsterdam and Paris among others.
”Yesterday was not British Airways” finest hour,” said BA CEO Willie Walsh. ”We disappointed many people and I apologise sincerely - there were problems in the car parks, airport areas, computer glitches and the baggage system.
”In isolation, they would not have had the impact they did, but in combination they led to a level of disruption [that] we never took control of during the day. I am not pointing the finger at BAA ” both BAA and BA made mistakes ” we have to correct those and make this fantastic terminal work.”
Despite problems with baggage yesterday ” there were reports of aircraft departing without luggage ” BA insists that passengers should be able to check-in with both hand and hold bags.
However, a statement from the carrier is advising customers whose travel ”is cancelled between 27 and 30 March” how to rebook flights, suggesting that BA believes the knock-on effects of the chaos will continue for a few days yet.
”Our performance was not good enough ” we did not deliver for our customers and we should have,” said Walsh.
”BA will be in this terminal for 40 years. It is not going to be judged on the basis of the first few days ” and it is up to us to ensure that it becomes the resounding success the travelling public deserves.”