Saturday March 29, 05:38 PM
BA cancels 66 more flights over new terminal fiasco in Britain
By Ben Perry
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LONDON (AFP) - British Airways (LSE: BAY.L - news) said Saturday that it was cancelling more flights to and from London Heathrow airport's new Terminal 5 for a third day running because of logistical problems.
The airline said it was operating 281 out of 347 scheduled flights to and from Heathrow Terminal 5 on Saturday, 12 fewer than originally announced.
"All longhaul flights from Terminal 5 will operate as planned," it added in a statement. BA said that it expected 37 flights to be cancelled on Sunday.
Hundreds of flights have been hit since the 4.3-billion-pound terminal opened on Thursday, delaying passengers and leaving many others without their luggage.
"We are extremely hacked off and frustrated," said Neil Mackay, a passenger from North Wales who was at the new terminal on Saturday.
BA, which has sole use of the terminal, has blamed the problems on "a combination of factors", including delays at the staff car park and computer glitches which have plagued the baggage sorting system.
"We are hoping things are going to steadily recover," a BA spokeswoman said Saturday. She added that flights not cancelled were experiencing delays of up to 40 minutes.
Terminal 5 is the first new addition for 20 years to Heathrow, one of the world's busiest airports, situated to the west of London.
Opened by Queen Elizabeth II earlier this month amid great fanfare, it descended into chaos Thursday.
Long queues built up and some passengers flying into the terminal had to wait so long to be reunited with their luggage that they gave up and asked for their bags to be sent on. British newspapers reported that scuffles occurred among staff and passengers.
BA chief executive Willie Walsh apologised to passengers in a statement released Friday.
A technical support specialist said Saturday that the terminal was also experiencing problems with lifts and telephones, but stressed that Heathrow operator BAA was responsible for these glitches.
The Financial Times meanwhile said British Airways had been forced to pull an advertising campaign for the expensive new terminal because of the chaos.
BA had planned to trumpet the speed with which passengers could move through Terminal 5 in a television, newspaper and Internet publicity blitz next week, the business daily reported Saturday.
The FT quoted BA as saying that the advertising campaign had been postponed until "later in the year," while it cited industry experts who said the problems could dent the airline's brand image in the short-term.
Terminal 5 the size of 50 football pitches, took 15 years to plan and build and is designed to handle 30 million passengers a year.
Heathrow, used by 68 million passengers annually, has for years been plagued by overcrowding in its collection of ageing buildings owing to soaring demand for air travel.
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