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Snow forces British Airways to cancel yet more flights

06/04/2008

Snow has forced British Airways (BA) to cancel over 100 flights out of Heathrow and Gatwick, in the latest setback for the airline.

Two runways at BAA-operated airport Heathrow closed for de-icing amid snow this morning and air traffic control reduced the number of take-off and landing slots.

The bad weather comes after two weeks of cancelled flights for BA as "teething troubles" marred the opening of Heathrow's Terminal 5.

Yesterday, BA hoped all scheduled flights out of the terminal could operate as normal over the weekend.

But a computer glitch crashed the baggage-handling system and the airline was forced to process all luggage by hand. The delays this caused led to a further 12 flight cancellations.

After working through the night, BAA said it fixed the problem.

In a statement on its website, BAA said: "In the early hours of this morning, the software problem in Heathrow Terminal 5 was resolved and the baggage system is functioning well.

"The principal challenge for Heathrow this morning is the snow and ice around the airport.

"We have well-rehearsed procedures in place to deal with this weather and all areas of the airport have been extensively de-iced and treated."

BAA added passengers should check the status of their flights before making their way to Heathrow.

British Airways planned to use the terminal for all of its flights out of Heathrow, easing overcrowding at the airport and improving the passenger experience on its flights.

But so far it has cost the airline £16 million and damaged the company's share value.