BA cancels flights in Heathrow T5 chaos

British Airways Plc cancelled a fifth of flights from its new ₤4.31 billion terminal at London's Heathrow airport yesterday as chaos from its opening spilled into a second day.

BA said it dropped the short-haul flights to ease congestion as it attempted to recover from the mess left by Thursday's opening when nearly 70 flights were cancelled, leaving passengers distraught.

Chief executive officer Willie Walsh warned travellers problems could persist into the weekend.

"I would expect some disruption tomorrow (Saturday), but I think it will get better every day as we become accustomed to the building and the quirks of the systems," he said.

"Yesterday was definitely not British Airways' finest hour," he said. "There were problems in the car parks, airport areas, computer glitches and the baggage system."

Jackie Bachmann, 40, encountered baggage problems as she travelled with four other snooker players to an amateur competition in Glasgow. "We had problems with our bags and his snooker cue is missing," she said. "Now we are waiting here for the next flight to Glasgow."

BA's problems provoked a public relations disaster for the carrier that once styled itself the "world's favourite airline" - and weighed on its shares.

BA shares fell more than three per cent yesterday, hit by the T5 chaos and jitters ahead of tomorrow's start of the "open skies" deal to create greater competition on trans-Atlantic routes.

"I don't think it will be material, but it's certainly bad for sentiment and not good for the BA brand," BlueOar Securities analyst Douglas McNeill said. "You'd need several days of severe disruption to really impinge on BA's financial performance."

Adebayo Oniwinde, 52, a missionary from Lagos, was one of those caught up in the chaos.

"I made a booking on a BA flight to Oslo," he said. "I was going to travel at one o'clock. Now I'll have to wait eight hours."

BA's rivals, which resent Spanish-owned airport operator BAA gifting BA its own dedicated terminal, were quick to capitalise. "Terminal 1, which now has 40 per cent less passengers to accommodate following BA's move to Terminal 5, is running like clockwork," said British Midland, BA's main competitor at Heathrow.