Half-term holiday plans have been disrupted after British Airways suffers a technical issue.
Some 16,000 passengers have been affected by 42 cancelled flights.
The chaos comes just before the bank holiday weekend, with most affected flights across short-haul routes.
Some experts anticipate this would be the busiest day for UK air travel since before the pandemic.
British Airways said that a majority of its flights continued to operate on Thursday, adding that affected customers had been contacted with options.
They were offered a refund, or rebooking to an alternative flight with the airline or another carrier.
Attention – British Airways has suffered a technical issue which is impacting some British Airways departing and arriving flights. For the status of flights please contact either British Airways or your travel provider.
— Heathrow Airport (@HeathrowAirport) May 25, 2023
This isn’t the first time the airport has suffered IT problems.
A major computer system issue in 2017 left 75,000 stranded.
The problem began on Thursday, and a statement released by BA just before 10pm said “we’re aware of a technical issue, which we have been working hard to fix”.
“Due to high call volumes please only contact us if you’re due to travel in the next 48 hours.”
Heathrow Airport has said staff are on hand to help in its terminals.
