British Airways has cancelled all flights from Gatwick and Heathrow as computer problems cause disruption worldwide.
Passengers have been told not to travel to the London airports because of “extreme congestion” at the terminals, with all BA planes cancelled for the day because of a “major IT system failure”.
Pictures and videos on social media show long queues at the check-in counters.
@British_Airways there needs to be some communication in T5 now as passengers are getting very angry. pic.twitter.com/uTjQcovK2B
— Geraldine Puttock (@jellybean38) May 27, 2017
It comes as scores of Britons headed overseas for the long weekend and half-term school holidays on Saturday morning.
Photo of @British_Airways baggage desk in #T5 arrivals, this is going to be a long and painful day… #chaos pic.twitter.com/rjeZF9i2Z1
— Gareth Wharton (@theboyg) May 27, 2017
Heathrow said it has posted extra staff at the terminals and warned BA passengers on flights not to go to the airport.
Oh the indignity, having to go through passport control having not been anywhere… #T5 #Heathrow #BA pic.twitter.com/M4HoKXv0Zx
— Gareth Wharton (@theboyg) May 27, 2017
Several passengers at Heathrow told the Press Association they had not been informed their flights had been cancelled until more than an hour after the airline put out a press statement announcing the decision.
The walk of shame, #BA passengers being taken off planes and returned to the terminal #grumpy pic.twitter.com/jkLKfiwd03
— Gareth Wharton (@theboyg) May 27, 2017
Footage filmed at Terminal 5 showed long queues at customer services after passengers had been advised they would be unable to rebook due to systems remaining down.
@British_Airways Passengers stranded @HeathrowAirport, with rumours of all flights b4 6pm cancelled @cnnbrk @BBCBreaking @BBCWorld @CNN pic.twitter.com/tw07JLrvFg
— Emily Wilson (@realEmyWilson) May 27, 2017
Student Emily Wilson told the Press Association she had been advised “we are unable to get bags, and that no more flights are taking off”, several hours after arriving at the airport for her flight to Stockholm.
Final update: All @British_Airways flights @HeathrowAirport before 18:00 have been cancelled Confirmed. @BBC @BBCBreaking @CNN @cnnbrk @cnni pic.twitter.com/UwKaZCM79Y
— Emily Wilson (@realEmyWilson) May 27, 2017
Wilson added: “We were told (it would be) about three hours for collecting bags, that all compensation will have to be done online, and that we are unable to rebook flights now because of the system being down.”
Very long queues at @British_Airways check-in at #LHR @HeathrowAirport #T5 today #BankHolidayWeekend pic.twitter.com/Vugeq0Lptx
— Gareth Wharton (@theboyg) May 27, 2017
A spokeswoman for the airline said: “We have experienced a major IT system failure that is causing very severe disruption to our flight operations worldwide.https://twitter.com/British_Airways/status/868403485729071104“We’ve found no evidence that it’s a cyber attack.“The terminals at Heathrow and Gatwick have become extremely congested and we have cancelled all flights from Heathrow and Gatwick.“We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience this is causing our customers and we are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.”
Gets worse, #T5 staff having to put gate info up on a white board #LowFi #Heathrow pic.twitter.com/NZhjQC4BI9
— Gareth Wharton (@theboyg) May 27, 2017
The latest problem also meant parts of BA’s website were unavailable and some travellers were unable to check-in on the mobile app.
This comes after passengers at Gatwick Airport faced chaotic scenes and long queues due to a baggage system problem on Friday.
Those taking flights were forced to travel without their hold bags and were asked to carry any essential items in their hand luggage.