Multiple flights were delayed and cancelled by technical issue on Wednesday
Dozens more British Airways flights from Heathrow were cancelled Thursday morning as the airline battled to recover from its latest IT meltdown.
A major systems failure brought chaos to BA’s schedules on Wednesday, with passengers told they might have to wait as long as two days for a flight.
The problem was fixed Wednesday afternoon but the airline warned of further knock-on disruption Thursday morning because of planes and crew being in the wrong place.
Thursday morning’s first departure from Belfast could not operate because the plane had not been able to leave Northern Ireland Wednesday night, while early morning flights to Munich, Rome, Milan and Inverness were also showing as cancelled.
In total, it is feared between 30 and 40 scheduled departures could be affected on Thursday.
BA said the situation was being exacerbated by “predicted weather disruption” though only light rain and sleet showers were forecast.
The cancellations mainly affected short haul domestic and European flights, but two departures to South Africa, one to Cape Town and one to Johannesburg due to leave Wednesday night were delayed until Thursday morning after they were “night stopped” by limits on Heathrow’s operating hours.
Frustrated passengers took to social media as they sat for hours on planes waiting to disembark.
One described it as “another #fail from @BritishAirways.” Wednesday’s hitch follows a “technical failure” in February.
No explanation has been given for the problems but there is no suggestion they are linked to Russian hacking.
One passenger stranded at Heathrow said it will be two days before she is provided with a new flight.
Michelle Heinrich, a student from Germany who lives in Coventry, had been due to fly to Germany at 5.40pm on Wednesday. She said problems had started as early as 2.40pm when passengers tried to check in.
When the gate number was due to be announced, passengers were instead told the flight was delayed by two hours.
That time came and went. At around 9pm, a gate number was finally announced. Then, as passengers waited to board, they were told the flight had, in fact, been cancelled.
Ms Heinrich said there was “silence and confusion” among passengers. British Airways staff seemed equally in the dark.
While food vouchers were provided to stranded passengers, it was not the case with accommodation.
“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,” Ms Heinrich said.
“It’s another day and night before I can fly. British Airways have not been communicating with us.”
A BA spokesperson said: “We’re very sorry to say that as a result of the technical issue we experienced yesterday and predicted weather disruption, we have had to reduce our schedule at Heathrow today.”
A Heathrow spokesperson added: “We are in the terminals supporting passengers whose journeys have been disrupted. Passengers are advised to check their flight status before travelling to the airport.”
