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(Alliance News) - British Airways has cancelled all short-haul flights from Heathrow until midday and further disruption is expected throughout Saturday due to ongoing technical issues.
The airline, owned by International Consolidated Airlines Group SA, 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.
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."
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.
It is BA's second outage in 10 days.
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."
By Catherine Wylie and Sophie Wingate, PA
source: PA
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