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British Airways passengers facing delays due to “technical issue”

Emma Lunn
Written By:
Emma Lunn
Posted:
Updated:
21/11/2019

Thousands of BA customers flying in and out of Heathrow and Gatwick are facing delays and disruption due to technical problems with flight plans.

BA said a technical issue was causing delays to some of its flights this morning and advised passengers booked to fly today to check the status of their flight before leaving for the airport.

A statement on BA.com said: “Our teams are working hard to resolve this and get you on your way to your destination as quickly as possible. We have rebooked those customers who are affected onto alternative flights and arranged hotel accommodation where it has been needed. We are very sorry for any delays this might have caused to your journey.”

Disgruntled passengers on Twitter claimed being delayed for up to 22 hours, with some passengers receiving emails saying their flight was cancelled but with no further assistance or advice offered.

Tweets to the airline from customers suggested flights to Heathrow and Gatwick from across the US, Asia and Africa were caught up in the chaos.

The IT issues last night and this morning are the latest in a series of woes for the flagship carrier. In August an IT outage lead to delays and cancellations from London airports, while strikes by pilots in September saw hundreds of cancelled flights.

BA is yet to confirm the number of flights affected by and the exact reason for the outage although BA sources claim staff had been sent a text message saying: “Due to a Flight Planning outage overnight, at point of departure flight crew will receive the flight plan for the departing flight only.”

Rory Boland, Which? travel editor, said: “This is the latest in a long line of British Airways technical glitches causing delays and cancellations and yet again it’s thousands of passengers who are paying the price – left tired, frustrated and with a lack of information and assistance from the airline.

“BA must do the right thing and reroute passengers as quickly as possible, using other airlines where necessary, as well as informing customers facing disruption about their entitlement to compensation.”