British Airways cancels 40 flights due to another IT issue

British Airways (BA) has apologised for cancelling scores of flights astatine London Heathrow connected Thursday implicit IT issues.

The hose said it is fixing "technical problems" causing difficulties with online check-in, delaying flights.

Forty-three flights were cancelled arsenic of 1700 BST, oregon astir 5% of its services, according to aviation information steadfast Cirium.

About 800 flights successful full were scheduled to alert from the UK today.

BA has suffered a bid of reputation-damaging IT failures successful the past mates of years, including an incidental successful December that saw dozens of agelong haul flights cancelled successful the week earlier Christmas.

Thursday's issues are affecting flights departing and arriving into Heathrow.

BA said that a bulk of its flights had continued to operate, adding that affected customers had been contacted and offered options, including a refund oregon rebooking onto an alternate formation with the hose oregon different carrier.

One idiosyncratic affected by the delays tweeted: "No 1 astatine @british_airways tin archer america erstwhile our formation volition leave. And if it does permission seemingly it volition permission without luggage."

Another wrote: "My girl is stuck successful Heathrow aft already diverting to Iceland from Canada owed to a aesculapian emergency. She has not slept successful 24 hours and cannot get connected a formation backmost to Dublin."

The issues travel arsenic information guards astatine Heathrow Airport person begun a three-day onslaught implicit pay.

There are astir 1,400 striking unit based astatine Terminal 5 and successful field information represented by the Unite union. The airdrome has said operations volition not beryllium affected.

BA has been deed by different IT problems successful caller years including a large outage successful 2017 that stranded 75,000 passengers implicit a vacation weekend.

The incidental sparked lawsuit backlash with pledges from the bearer that it would bash amended successful future.

Passengers besides faced delays successful February past twelvemonth erstwhile Storm Eunice deed the southbound of England, creating immense problems for airports and airlines.

Flights struggled to land and BA faced difficulties operating machinery needed to process inbound and outbound flights, including lifts and trolleys needed for offloading baggage and catering trolleys.

At 1 point, determination were reports that 11,000 bags were stuck astatine Heathrow airport's Terminal 5, with unit brought successful from crossed respective BA departments to assistance nonstop bags to destinations.