IT glitch causes Heathrow chaos

Passengers flying from Heathrow today should minimise how much luggage they take following a major outage to the airport's computerised baggage system.



Officials for British Airways, its main airline, last night said they were "confident" that "full service" would now resume, given yesterday's software error had been identified.



The error, which occurred after an update to the system made it reboot, left thousands of people in chaos, as long-haul flights from Terminal 4 declined to stow luggage.



Yesterday afternoon BA said passengers for economy and premier economy and all transfer flights were hit hardest, and those bringing luggage would not be allowed to travel.



However, passengers were advised they could take two items of hand luggage on these flights – a standard sized shoulder bag and a laptop-sized bag or briefcase.



Reflecting on the outage last night, airport operator BAA said it is "now confident that a full service will be able to be offered to all passengers tomorrow."



"This would mean that all passengers will be able to travel with their normal baggage allowance and should arrive at the airport at the normal advised times."



Yet passengers were advised to check both the websites of BA and Heathrow before making their way to the airport for the latest flight information.



Any transfer passengers going via Terminal 4 today were advised not bring luggage to be checked in as they will not be allowed to travel.



"The performance of the Terminal 4 baggage system has been reduced by an ongoing software problem," BAA said in a statement yesterday.



"Whilst every effort is being made to rectify the problem over night and contingency plans have been put in place, there is a risk that operations out of Terminal 4 may be affected tomorrow [Thursday].



"Please be assured that our staff will be working through out the night to minimise any potential disruption tomorrow."



British Airways has apologised to its customers for the disruption and set out flight rescheduling options on its website.



A BAA spokesperson added: "Passengers travelling through Terminal 4 should check with their airlines before coming to the airport to understand the potential impact on their travel plans. In particular, passengers should consider minimising the amount of hold luggage they check in."