Hundreds of holidaymakers at Heathrow Airport said ‘go home’ after an IT outage

Dozens of British Airways (BA) holidaymakers and other travelers traveling through Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5 last night faced hours of frustrating delays before reportedly being told by the airline to “go home”. The chaotic scenes at Europe’s largest airport were said to have been caused by a “technical problem”.

The failure of BA’s allocation system led to flights landing without their luggage and long delays for passengers as they attempted to locate their missing belongings. Late on Tuesday night and into the early hours of the next day, disgruntled passengers queued outside the terminal, with many complaining about a lack of communication.

Many took to social media to vent their frustration. One disgruntled flyer said: “Communication was so poor tonight, not a great BA. I don’t have much hope of getting my luggage anytime soon.” Following last night’s technical issues, BA has said today’s flights from Terminal 5 will continue as normal.

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Heathrow Airport said in a statement to frustrated passengers: “We are supporting British Airways with a technical issue with their allocation system. We advise passengers to contact British Airways before traveling to the airport. British Airways passengers at Terminal 5 may be affected and are advised to contact British Airways for assistance. There are no consequences for other airlines.”

Another angry passenger said the chaotic scenes made him feel like he was flying from a third world country. They said: “8pm flight tonight from Aberdeen to LHR. It’s past midnight now. I’m waiting for bags at Heathrow that may never come. Third world airline, third world country.”

Passengers reported seeing about thirty flights crammed into the halls, all trying to figure out where their luggage was or where they were going. Meanwhile, many criticized the lack of staff to deal with the long lines of desperate fliers.

Another annoyed passenger wrote: “Mess at Heathrow Airport, no bags arriving. There is no information that I have to go home. But I need the bag for a wedding tomorrow and you are telling me it will take 48 hours for the bag.” According to the Mail, only 11 of the 174 flights scheduled to leave the airport ultimately left on time, during a day of chaos and cancellations for summer holidaymakers.

One irate traveler said “all hell broke loose”, that their luggage was lost and they had to come back at 5am. They said: “Heathrow Airport basically broke down this afternoon, my flight home and four others were canceled at the same time. All hell broke loose, I was rebooked on a flight tomorrow morning (RIP my late night sleep).

“Offered to put me in a hotel in Gatwick, 26 miles away, and I had to catch a bus there and back at 5am tomorrow. My suitcase has apparently been lost [there is] no evidence that I brought it home.”

British Airways has not issued a statement but responded to customer tweets saying: “I’m sorry you were affected by the disruption at LHR. If you would like to make a complaint you can do so here: https://britishairways .com/en-gb/information/help-and-contacts/complaints-and-claims.”

A BA spokesperson told the Mirror: “We have apologized to customers who were unable to travel with their luggage due to a temporary technical glitch that was beyond our control. This issue has been resolved and we have called in additional colleagues to help our teams get the bags back to our customers as quickly as possible.”

A Heathrow spokesperson said: “Previously British Airways experienced a technical issue with their allocation system, this has now been resolved. Our teams are on site to support BA in their recovery. We recommend that passengers contact BA before traveling to the airport as BA passengers in Terminal 5 may still be affected. No other airlines are affected.”