British Airways faced turmoil this week, when dozens of flights were cancelled out of London Heathrow due to an IT failure.

At least 42 flights and around 16,000 travellers were impacted on the busiest day for UK air travel since 2019.

The airline said that more cancellations are still happening as the result of a "knock-on effect of a technical issue" which has led to staff being in the wrong location.

A large number of inbound flights to the west London airport were delayed for more than an hour on Thursday afternoon, while some passengers due to depart on Friday evening have been told that their flights have been delayed and that they should check their flight status before going to the airport.

A statement from British Airways on Thursday night said: “We’re aware of a technical issue, which we have been working hard to fix … Due to high call volumes please only contact us if you’re due to travel in the next 48 hours.”

The IT glitch coincided with the first day of a three-day strike by security guards at Heathrow. The Unite union members previously held 15 days of strikes over the Easter period and continue to argue that security staff at Heathrow are being paid “bargain basement wages” when compared to other UK airports.

Share Story: