Disruption continues at Heathrow

A spokeswoman for BA said it was due to problems with the baggage system and it was working to resolve the matter.

Passengers expressed frustration as people told how basic facilities such as airport lifts were out of order.

BA had tried to comfort its Terminal 5 customers this morning by promising maximum delays of 30 or 40 minutes.

BA is expecting 37 flights to be cancelled tomorrow.

Today, one technical support specialist paid to give customers advice on the floor of T5 revealed: “There are 16 lifts and only one is working – how can you have an international airport like that? If I was to blame anyone I would blame BAA, they are in charge of the lifts, trolleys and phones.

“The airport does look beautiful but it looks at bit like Asda when they are in the middle of restocking.”

Ray Goldrick, 59, and his wife had to borrow a phone from the specialist, who works for an outsourced firm, because they could not find one that was working.

Having come back from Sydney they complained of having to get a "crummy" bus from terminal four to five, where they are hoping to fly home to Manchester.

Mr Goldrick said: “It’s disgusting. You’d expect everything to be running smoothly from the first day.”

Carol and Neil Mackay, from North Wales, were angry that they were unable to check in early and that they were forced to come into terminal two before being taken to T5.

“We are extremely hacked off and frustrated,” Mr Mackay said.

At 9.05am a temporary suspension of check-in was announced – one helper said “it won’t be for very long. It must be something stuck in the system”.

A spokeswoman for BAA said this morning it was “looking into” the complaints about the phones and lifts but claimed: “Everything is running quite smoothly. Everything is going absolutely to plan.”

A BA spokeswoman said earlier: “We are hoping things are going to steadily recover. We are looking at just small delays of around 30 or 40 minutes to a handful of flights. Things are going according to plan.”

While BA this morning promised delays of only 30-40 minutes, outraged Patti Conroy, 58, from Seattle, was told last night her flight had been put back by eight hours.

Mrs Conroy, who is flying to Paris to see friends as part of a European tour, said: “Last night they cancelled the flight and rebooked us.

“When we first got here we were told that the flight wasn’t cancelled, then we were told it was. When we looked online it still claimed it wasn’t cancelled. It is extremely confused and I feel frustrated and disappointed.

“We’ve spent a whole day in here when we could have been in Paris having fun. I’ll just go home if it’s cancelled again. There aren’t even any direct flights to Seattle.

“I thought they would have sorted the bugs out by now, given that the first day was such a disaster, we are into the third day now.”

She was still unable to check in this morning, due to a temporary suspension caused by baggage build up.

She added: “They can’t handle it so they just cancel and rebook.”

Flights to and from Heathrow Terminals 1 and 4 continue to operate normally.

A “combination of problems” such as difficulties getting staff into the building, a computer glitch blamed on “human error” and a failure of the baggage system led to chaotic scenes on the opening day leading to 34 return flights being cancelled.

The cancellations and baggage problems at the £4.3bn (€5.4bn) flagship terminal in west London were said to have caused a brawl among staff, one newspaper reports.

The spokeswoman said she was “not aware” of a reported melee between 30 baggage handlers on Thursday, detailed in the Sun newspaper today.

The Conservative Party in Britain have called for an inquiry into the “chaos and confusion”, while the British Chambers of Commerce said T5 was a “PR disaster for London and the UK”.

The worst of the disruption came early yesterday with some passengers missing flights after claiming there were not enough desks open, or that they were given wrong directions to the departure hall.

Today, an airline spokeswoman said: “British Airways plans to operate a larger proportion of its Heathrow Terminal 5 flying programme on Sunday March 30 with 294 out of 331 scheduled flights operating.

“All longhaul flights from Terminal 5 will operate as planned.

“Customers are advised to check on ba.com for a full list of flight cancellations which are from the airline’s European and domestic schedule. Customers on cancelled services will be able to rebook or receive a refund.”

The Times newspaper claimed that BA was facing fines of up to £5,000 (€6,312) per passenger for breaking European rules by misleading the stranded about their compensation rights.

The Air Transport Users Council (AUC) said a letter BA issued to passengers yesterday evening breached the European regulation setting out the minimum rights for travellers whose flights were delayed.

The letter said: “Regrettably, we are unable to provide you with a hotel room during this disruption. If you make your own arrangements, we will be happy to consider reimbursement of some of your out of pocket expenses.”

It then listed the maximum amounts that passengers could claim, including £100 (€126.25) for two people sharing a hotel room.

Staff at the terminal’s hotels reservation centre said the minimum rate on Thursday night for a double room was £250 (€315.62).

European regulations do not set any maximum liability for hotel costs and require airlines to make the arrangements.

But last night a BA spokeswoman said the capping policy had now been abandoned: “There was an initial letter but that was soon changed. We will cover reasonable costs – there’s not a £100 limit.

“We have arranged hotel accommodation for many of our customers. For those customers for whom we were unable to arrange hotel accommodation, we offered to pay towards their expenses. We will consider all claims from customers.”