Passengers stranded ‘for days’ at Heathrow after technical glitch
Travellers at Heathrow Airport continue to suffer the consequences of an IT blackout yesterday afternoon.
Several passengers complained they had been ‘left in the dark’ and one person even said she is having to wait two days for a new flight.
Michelle Heinrich, a student and translator from Germany who lives in Coventry, had been due to fly to Germany at 5.40pm yesterday.
She said problems started as early as 2.40pm when people tried to check in with British Airways and drop bags off.
Her flight was initially delayed by two hours but by the time passengers were finally given a gate number at 9pm, they were instead told the flight was cancelled.
She said although staff ‘did the best they could’ to help, there was still ‘silence and confusion’ among travellers.
‘I’m stranded at Heathrow with no accommodation and a flight two days away. I’ve been given a food voucher but I’m not sure what’s going to happen today,’ Michelle said.
‘It’s another day and night before I can fly. British Airways have not been communicating with us.’
Dozens of planes were delayed and cancelled yesterday afternoon due to a technical issue with British Airways.
In a statement, the firm said: ‘While we were able to resolve the temporary technical issue we experienced earlier today quickly and resume flight operations at Heathrow Terminal 5, we deeply regret that we have now had to cancel some of our flights this evening.
‘We are taking steps to ensure as many customers as possible travel as planned.
‘We have apologised to our customers for the inconvenience we have caused them, are offering to refund or rebook them onto alternative flights and providing refreshment vouchers and hotel accommodation where needed.’
A Heathrow spokesperson said the airport was aware of issues affecting British Airways and was working with the airline to investigate and resolve the issue.
Milena Franke, a student from Germany who is currently doing her Erasmus year abroad in Aberdeen, said she was delayed for hours trying to fly to Scotland.
The 22-year-old said: ‘I‘ve been traveling from Germany to London Heathrow today with the initial plan of traveling further to Aberdeen.
‘However, after landing in Heathrow around 9am, my flight to Aberdeen got cancelled right before I was supposed to walk to my gate.
‘As I didn‘t know who to approach directly, I spent most of my time waiting for someone from the BA customer service hoping to receive further details but not a single person offered help.
‘Instead, I got advised to rebook my flight and select the next one leaving in the evening. However, this flight also got cancelled.
‘BA eventually managed to rebook my flight for tomorrow morning and upgraded me with the business class. It has been a terrifying experience, eventually resulting in the fact that I am now staying in a hotel with a slight hope of finally getting to travel tomorrow.’
Another passenger flying to Washington described the issue as a ‘comedy of errors’.
‘Originally, our flights were due to leave at 8am this morning and so we were all ready to get the kids in bed last night for a 4am wake up only to be emailed at 7pm to say our flights had been cancelled and rearranged until later in the afternoon,’ he said.
‘They only gave us an hour to connect in Heathrow so we had to fight to get an earlier flight there… but then ended up stuck in Heathrow from 3pm and still not taken off.
‘It’s been a comedy of errors, like no crew to board the plane, no crew to load the bags and now no clue what’s happening.
‘Obviously I feel gutted and exhausted. More about the lack of communication than anything else. It’s been a stressful day, but we’ll do what we have to for the kids.’
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