Chaos at Heathrow as British Airways cancels all short-haul flights Business

The airline said: “We know we have let our customers down and we will do everything in our power to make up for it, but for now our aim is to keep as many customers and flights away as possible. .”

Paul Charles of travel consultancy The PC Agency said: “BA needs to be transparent about what is causing these issues and how soon they will be resolved.”

Lisa Webb, who? consumer law expert said the airline should offer customers the option of traveling with another airline if necessary if their flight had been cancelled.

“This is not the first time BA has encountered technical problems, causing flights to be postponed and leaving passengers to pay the price,” she said.

“In events like these, airlines should offer the option of a refund or re-routing passengers on any reasonable route as quickly as possible, using other airlines if necessary.”

Ms Webb said BA must also give affected customers clear information about their right to compensation.

Travel journalist Simon Calder is in Qatar and was due to return home on Saturday evening with BA.

“With another weekend of flying badly damaged by what BA calls a ‘systems disruption’, the airline clearly has an urgent need to invest in IT,” he said.

“Longer term, reputational damage increases with each cancellation. I calculate that 1,500 passengers got up very early this morning to fly British Airways from Heathrow to Geneva – and the same number are waiting at the Swiss airport to get home. As with the thousands who lost trips to Italy, the Canary Islands and beyond, they are unlikely to forget this weekend in a hurry.”

In July 2018 computer problems plagued BA’s Heathrow operations and the airline canceled a number of short-haul flights after the incident involving a “provider computer system”.

In May the year before, 75,000 holiday travelers were stranded after a glitch forced the airline to cancel more than 700 flights over three days.