Baggage Troubles Continue at Heathrow Airport

Filed in archive Aviation Travel on March 30, 2008

Troubles continue at London's Heathrow Airport. Since its new terminal 5 opened on March 27, computer failures has caused issue for baggage handlers. And according to the International Herald Tribune, on Sunday, British Airways canceled another 37 flights down from 67 on Saturday. Overall, the airline has canceled 200 flights and currently has a backlog of over 15,000 pieces of luggage.

The carrier has so far abandoned only short-haul and domestic flights, to cities including Amsterdam and Glasgow, representing about 11 percent of all flights.

About 6 percent of the baggage British Airways has handled in the past four days still has yet to reach its owners, the spokeswoman said. The carrier, Europe's third-biggest, is already Europe's worst airline for lost luggage and the second-worst for delayed bags, according to the Air Transport Users Council.

Terminal 5 took two decades to plan and build at a cost of 4.3 billion pounds, or $8.6 billion, as the UK government battled campaigners who said the building would only add to congestion at Europe's busiest airport. British Airways has said the terminal will ease journeys and help retain passengers disillusioned with Heathrow's overcrowding.

Before the opening of the new terminal, which will have capacity for 30 million passengers annually, Heathrow was handling 68 million people a year in buildings designed for 45 million. Willie Walsh, British Airways chief executive officer, has blamed overcrowding for dissuading travelers from using Heathrow and his airline, which is the biggest occupant at the airport and the sole user of Terminal 5.

Rival carriers including BMI, the second-biggest user of Heathrow after British Airways, and Virgin Atlantic Airways, the third-biggest, have said they have seen a surge in customer bookings because of the problems at Terminal 5.